Stereophile

MQA “MASTER QUALITY AUTHENTICATED”
DOES IT WORK?
SEE p.108
STEREOPHILE
VOL.39 NO.6
ONLINE AUTHORITY:
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THERE ARE AS MANY OPINIONS
AS THERE ARE EXPERTS
AS WE BY ART DUDLEY
SEE IT
THIS ISSUE :
Sad to say, not all
reviewers are as impartial
as they should be.
The Goodness of Your Heart:

A Tragedy in One Act
N
ote: All dialogue quoted verbatim from e-mail exchang- do you?
es to which I am privy; the stage directions are imaginary.
BILL. [Stares, mouth agape, in horror. Then regains his composure,
Dramatis Personæ: rises, walks downstage. As he does so, the lights over both desks fade to
BILL, director of marketing for PS Audio black, and a single, small pool of light follows him. Stops at C., turns,
RANDY,1 amateur reviewer for a commercial audiophile and addresses the audience.] In the dozens—maybe hundreds,
website at this point—of reviewer interactions I’ve had over many
DICK, 2 professional reviewer for an established audio maga- years, this is the only time such a solicitation has occurred.
zine (not Stereophile) But years ago, an editor at another review magazine . . .
[Fade to black. Curtain descends.]
SCENE ONE
The stage is completely darkened, save for a small pool of light L. and SCENE TWO
another R. At L. we see RANDY in his office, sitting with his feet The curtain rises on the central room of a suite in a nice metropolitan
up on his desk. Other than a computer and a telephone, his desk is hotel. Upstage, the room is filled with loudspeakers. A steady stream
barren. At R. is BILL, sitting in his office. On BILL’s desk are an “I of men and women, some in business attire, file back and forth,
love Colorado” coffee mug, a half-eaten croissant, several piles of pa- examining the wares, chatting soundlessly, and entering and exiting
perwork—one of which mostly obscures a small laptop computer—and the scene from L. and R. Downstage, BILL stands next to an obviously
a telephone. As the curtain rises, BILL is dialing his telephone; a few expensive loudspeaker; he is dressed in a blue blazer, flannel trousers,
seconds later, RANDY’s telephone rings. He answers the call. shirt, and tie. As the scene begins, all of BILL’s attention is fixed on
the smartphone in his hands, on which he appears to be typing a text
RANDY. Hello? message with only intermittent success.
BILL. Hi, Randy. It’s Bill, from PS Audio. I got the message DICK enters from L. and walks toward BILL. DICK’s entrance is ac-
that you want to buy a Bridge II network server card for your companied by sparks and a puff of smoke, though not everyone in the
DirectStream DAC. You can order it from our retail manag- audience can see this. DICK wears a suit and a distinctive hat. He is
er—I’ll give you the number—and pay with a credit card. closer to the loudspeaker than he is to BILL, and as he approaches, it is
obvious that DICK is salivating.
RANDY. Thanks, Bill, but I’ve decided that I’ll likely wait un-
til the Bridge II is Roon-ready before I place my order. BILL. [Noticing DICK’s approach] Hi, Dick—I see you’re admir-
ing our new speaker. Would you like to review it?
BILL. Okay. But if you wanted to give the Bridge II a test
drive, our DirectStream Junior has a Bridge II built into DICK. Well, you know, Bill, we take care of our own first.
every unit: You could review two products at once! [A peal of thunder. The stage goes instantly black, except for a single
spotlight downstage. BILL walks to the pool of light and turns to the
RANDY. Well, Bill, evaluating a product like this and writing audience.]
the review is a considerable amount of work to do, just so
I can try out the Bridge II. Then, sending the product back BILL. The manufacturing company I was representing that
and still having to buy a Bridge II, even at a discount, seems day didn’t care for that tactic any more than I did: They
like a lot of work without a lot of incentive . . . [Absentmind- didn’t advertise in that magazine, and a review never oc-
edly twirls telephone cord around index finger of his free hand.] Now, curred. In addition to that magazine, there are several review
if you were to include a Bridge II for my DirectStream for websites that are overtly pay-for-play; I don’t deal with
free, I might consider that incentive. What do you think? them, nor does any manufacturer for whom I’ve worked.
They, at least, are forthright: one knows the deal.
BILL. [Rolls eyes in disgust.]
Randy, I’m really not comfortable Being asked to give a gift is different. That was someone
doing that. Let’s just forget about the Junior then. I’ve dealt with many times, and while I sympathize with his
plight . . . well, to turn around and imply that my receiving
RANDY. That’s fine. But you must understand that I don’t a salary for my work justifies him receiving a bribe—that’s
even get paid for writing my reviews. So, since I feel I’m sophistry, and that’s bullshit.
providing a potentially valuable marketing tool for manu- [Exit R. Fade to black.] Q
facturers, I try to get something out of it from the manufac-
turer. Most companies understand that. [Pauses.] I’m sure you 1 Not his real name.
don’t do your job for free out of the goodness of your heart, 2 Not his real name, either.
stereophile.com Q June 2016 3

JUNE 2016 Vol.39 No.6
p.39
p.123
p.113
p.102 p.60 p.91 p.75
FEATURES 113 Ayre Acoustics Codex D/A headphone

amplifier
47 True Confessions by Jon Iverson
David Lander asks GoldenEar Technology’s Sandy Gross
why he isn’t making movies and racing slot cars. 123 PSI AVAA C20 electronic bass trap
by Bob Katz
53 Sorrow
Colin Stetson, a man who plays an instrument that’s
bigger than he is, takes on another mountainous task:
FOLLOW-UP
reorchestrating Henryk Górecki’s unlikely hit from 1992, 39 Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Valhalla
the Symphony No.3. By Robert Baird. power supply
by Herb Reichert
108 More on MQA 40 SME M2-9 tonearm
John Atkinson examines some of the claims made for by Herb Reichert
MQA’s ability to reduce file size while preserving a hi-rez
file’s bandwidth and resolution. 105 Apogee Groove USB D/A headphone amplifier
by Jim Austin
EQUIPMENT REPORTS 121 Ayre Acoustics QB-9DSD D/A converter
60 Bowers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond by Jon Iverson
loudspeaker SEE OUR EXCLUSIVE EQUIPMENT REPORT ARCHIVE AT WWW.STEREOPHILE.COM
by Kalman Rubinson
75 Marten Coltrane 3 loudspeaker Stereophile (USPS #734-970 ISSN: 0585-2544) Vol.39 No.6, June 2016, Issue Number 437.
Copyright © 2016 by TEN: The Enthusiast Network Magazines, LLC. All rights reserved. Pub-
by Michael Fremer lished monthly by TEN: The Enthusiast Network, LLC., 261 Madison Ave., 6th Floor, New York,
NY 10016-2303. Periodicals Postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Sub-
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by Jim Austin

JUNE 2016 Vol.39 No.6
p.21
p.31 p.21
p.39
p.39 p.15 p.15
p.137
COLUMNS 135 Record Reviews

June’s Recording of the Month is Emily’s D+Evolution, the genre-
3 As We See It busting new album from jazz bassist and vocalist, Esperanza
A drama in one act: not all reviewers are as impartial as they Spalding. In Classical this month we have a new recording of
should be, reports Art Dudley. Mahler’s Symphony 2 transcribed for a piano duet. In Rock/Pop
there are reviews of the latest recordings by RAM and Dr. Dog, as
11 Letters well as reissues of work by King Curtis and Son Volt. In Jazz, new
Readers remember Roy Allison and ask why would anyone listen records by Scott Reeves and Renee Rosnes get a critical listen.
to digitally mastered LPs.
Get on your Soapbox! Visit the forums at
147 Manufacturers’ Comments
Vandersteen, PBN, Marten, Linear Tube Audio, and MQA respond
www.stereophile.com.
to our reviews of their products.
15 Industry Update
154 Aural Robert
High-end audio news, including the shows and dealer-sponsored
Scared of new music? Don’t be. Robert Baird reports from South By
events taking place in May, June, and July 2016, a new staffer for
Southwest 2016 on why the record business hates adults.
Stereophile and its affiliated properties, plus a report from the
UK’s Bristol Show. p.135
Want to know more? Go to the “News Desk” at
www.stereophile.com for up-to-the-minute info.
INFORMATION
151 Audio Mart
21 Analog Corner 150 Manufacturers’
Michael Fremer auditions phono cartridges from Ikeda and van Showcase
den Hul and a remanufactured direct-drive turntable from PBN
Audio.
150 Dealers’ Showcase
151 Advertiser Index
31 Listening
Art Dudley likes the Tavish Audio Adagio phono preamp but is
disappointed by an expensive LP reissue.
39 Gramophone Dreams Follow Stereophile on Facebook:

Herb Reichert revisits a classic turntable and reviews a high-value www.facebook.com/stereophilemag.
phono cartridge and phono preamp combination from Dynavector.

Hear it all,
EDITOR JOHN ATKINSON JUNE 2016
MUSIC EDITOR ROBERT BAIRD
DEPUTY EDITOR ART DUDLEY
TEN: THE ENTHUSIAST NETWORK, LLC
without hearing
SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
MICHAEL FREMER, MICHAEL LAVORGNA, CHAIRMAN PETER ENGLEHART
KALMAN RUBINSON CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER SCOTT P. DICKEY
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all about it.

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LETTERS
TAKE HEED! Unless marked otherwise, all letters
to the magazine and its writers are assumed
FEEDBACK TO THE EDITOR to be for possible publication. In the spirit of
vigorous debate implied by the First Amendment,
and unless we are requested not to, we publish
correspondents’ e-mail addresses.
R.I.P. Roy Allison To my ears, the Music or Academy Records and think, DDD—
Editor: what the heck is that? This is an LP. Shouldn’t
I am writing to let you know that Roy phonograph is the there be an A in there somewhere? Then I’d go
Allison passed away at the beginning of looking for a M–VG++ first pressing of some
March. Roy was very big in the audio-
only domestic play- old music I love. I did this until David Bowie
phile community, with his legendary back source that died, whereupon I ordered three copies of his
work with Edgar Villchur at AR, and Blackstar LP. It is labeled DDD, but I didn’t
then with his own line of loudspeakers. I does not dynamically care. I wanted one for myself and two as gifts.
was also surprised to learn 30 years ago, compress music. The minute I opened this record, I completely
when I married my wife, that Roy was grasped the answer to your question: “Why and
her uncle. His younger brother is my under what circumstances would one care to buy
wife’s father. I always liked to brag to my in a conventional phonograph, apart from the a non-analog vinyl release?”
audiophile friends that I was related to motor drive, there is no need for a power supply, The Blackstar LP is a delicious feast for the
Roy Allison (even though I had never since the phono cartridge generates its own eyes, hands, ears, mind, and soul. The depth
met him)!! We have lost a real pioneer in electrical current. and quality of Bowie’s creation deserves this
the audio world. —Rich Butcher You can appreciate the distinction, I’m sure: ultra-high level of packaging. The booklet alone
goldenoak85@yahoo.com With a source component that depends on a takes days to fully appreciate. The creative deci-
power supply to create the electrical basis for its sions that went into the package design put me
Sad news. See David Lander’s January 2005 output, a dynamic peak in the music saps and in contact with David Bowie’s art before I fitted
interview with Roy Allison at http://tinyurl. stresses the power supply—as with so many the heavy black disc snugly over the spindle of
com/z5hgpzq. Equally sad news was the recent other things in audio, the moment when output my Linn LP12. Ahhhhh! I was already feeling
passing of T.H.E. Show’s Richard Beers—see is most needed is also the moment when the Bowie before I heard the beautiful sound of the
www.stereophile.com/content/richard- system is least able to supply it. But the op- stylus contacting the groove. There is something
beers-1949-2016. —John Atkinson posite is true of a phonograph: When the music about that slight crunchy sound of needle con-
demands higher output—ie, when a groove is tacting disc that connects to my nervous system
Digitally mastered vinyl? modulated for high amplitude—that condition and gets my juices flowing with anticipation.
Editor: naturally stimulates the phono cartridge into Only vinyl has that.
Nearly every significant non-classical producing more current. Cartridges do with ease I didn’t listen right away. I sat on my couch,
release is now available on vinyl, often in that which puts a strain on any power supply: held the black gatefold jacket on my lap, and
deluxe and expensive editions. Almost supplying current when it is most needed. Of studied the booklet as Bowie’s lament sounded
all are digitally recorded and mastered. course, that’s in addition to the phonograph’s in front of me. The next time I played it, I lit
Ironically, many electronic-music releases, other strengths, including but not limited to a candle by the record player and fell deep into
created wholly in the digital domain, are freedom from brickwall filters, etc. Bowie’s dream. This, for me, is audio heaven. I
released exclusively on vinyl. Why and These days, when I enjoy an analog LP mas- have listened to this record on Tidal and on my
under what circumstances would one tering of a digital recording, I feel that I am getting computer, and I prefer the black-disc experience.
care to buy a non-analog vinyl release? more than half of the analog ideal. Others may Surely, it’s the best $60 I have ever spent.
Let’s assume that, like me, one has believe it’s a situation in which they must “make A week later, I went to Other Music and
access to Class A or high-level analog and do,” but with competently made digital recordings spent another $60 buying a Sunn O))) album
also CD and digital streaming playback. that are mastered into LPs, I feel as if I’m getting and two Scott Walker LPs. Now I am hooked.
What’s going on? a great deal of what I want, sonically and musi- Thank you for the thoughtful question, and
Thanks for many decades of fine writ- cally—and, certainly, a greater sense of touch and for being a Stereophile reader. —Herb Reichert
ing. —Rod Ganiard impact and, ultimately, musical involvement
rganiard@gmail.com than I get from CDs or music files. —Art Dudley Analog Lite
Your excellent question, Mr. Ganiard, is one I Editor:
Thanks for reading our magazine, and thanks have asked myself almost every day. I would I have an issue with my Music Hall
for your thoughtful question. My friend and look at these brand-new $30 LPs at Other MMF-2.2 turntable. It is too light. Simply
colleague Herb Reichert shares his thoughts on opening the dustcover sends it sliding
this below; here, I add my two cents and repeat LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be sent across my shelf. Is there either a weighted
an observation that I slipped into one of my as faxes or e-mails only. Fax: (212) 915- or a sticky-feet option I can adapt for use
columns. 4167. E-mail: STletters@sorc.com. Please with this ’table? —Deon Lawrence DeSouza
To my ears, and to my way of thinking, the note: We are unable to answer requests deondesouza@gmail.com
for information about specific products
phonograph is the only domestic playback source
or systems. If you have problems with
that does not dynamically compress music. I your subscription, call (800) 666-3746, I suggest getting some Blu-tack at the hardware
believe this is so because literally every other or e-mail Stereophile@palmcoastd.com, store, putting a small piece under each foot,
source component—CD players, DACs, even or write to Stereophile, P.O. Box 420235, and pressing! Then use a bubble level to be
tape machines—works by modulating electricity Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. sure you’ve put an equal amount on each foot.
originating in that product’s power supply. But Adjust as necessary. —Michael Fremer

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INDUSTRY AUDIO NEWS & VIEWS SUBMISSIONS: Those promoting audio-related
UPDATE
seminars, shows, and meetings should e-mail
the when, where, and who to JAtkinson@
enthusiastnetwork.com at least eight weeks
before the month of the event. The deadline for
the August 2016 issue is May 20, 2016.
US: NEW YORK

John Atkinson
With this issue, we welcome to our staff Jana Dagda- CALENDAR OF
gan. Jana has joined us as The Enthusiast Network’s INDUSTRY EVENTS
Hi-Tech Group Editorial Assistant after some time
spent working in audio retailing, video blogging, ATTENTION ALL AUDIO SOCIETIES:
and performing music. She will be working on all of We have a page on the Stereophile
TEN’s Hi-Tech properties—Stereophile, AnalogPlanet. website dedicated solely to you:
com, AudioStream.com, InnerFidelity.com, Sound&Vision, and www.stereophile.com/audiophile-
Shutterbug—and will be based in our New York office. societies. If you’d like to have your
I asked Jana to write a few words describing what she audio-society information posted on
brings to us: the site, e-mail Chris Vogel at info@
“I am 23, Filipino-Chinese, and am dues to be paid, and that my apartment XLinkAudio.com.
originally from Honolulu, Hawaii. still lacks a reference system. That said, Please note that it is inappropriate
Music has been a part of my life since I I welcome this adventure wholeheart- for a retailer to promote a new product
began studying piano at the age of four. edly, and am honored to have the line in “Calendar” unless this is
At nine, I encountered the saxophone, opportunity to share it with you. associated with a seminar or similar
which brought me to New York “My modest home setup currently event.
almost five years ago, to study jazz at consists of: two Technics SL-1200
the New School for Jazz and Contem- Mk.II turntables, a DJ Tech X10 arizona
porary Music, a conservatory in the mixer, AudioQuest cables, Focal Alpha ] Wednesday, June 29, 7–9pm: the
West Village. Since then, my musical 65 speakers, an Apogee Duet 2 digital Arizona Audio Video Club is having a
interests have significantly altered; I audio interface, and not a single pair of PS Audio night, during which we will
now find myself exclusively creating headphones worth mentioning. sample the soon-to-be-released BHK
electronic music. “I would never have pursued my Signature preamp, coupled with the
“I am a late-born audiophile. Despite interests in hi-fi had it not been for well-reviewed BHK Signature stereo
this, I must confess that I have high the much-needed guidance of Steve amplifier. The highly regarded line
(fidelity) hopes and dreams, and wish Guttenberg, Stephen Mejias, and Jon of Bascom H. King (BHK) amplifiers
to drastically impact the world of hi-fi Derda—three of the most inspiring demonstrate Paul McGowan’s
as we know it. I am aware that there is people I have so far encountered in commitment to providing market-
much to be learned and a lifetime of this industry.” leading electronics at prices many
people can afford. Come join us
at Trinity Lutheran Church, 9424
UK: BRISTOL cording to post-show PR, sales were N. Seventh Street, Phoenix 85021.
Paul Messenger up 50% over last year, and the only For additional info, please visit the
Sound & Vision: The Bristol Show, Sound & Vision that had done better Arizona Audio Video Club website:
now in its 29th year, is comfortably in every way than this year’s event was www.azavclub.org.
the largest and best-established annual the 2003 show.
audio event on the UK calendar. One Another obviously visible trend california
reason for this may have to do with was the widespread reappearance of ] Friday–Sunday, June 3–5: T.H.E.
the fact that its venue, the Marriott turntables—not just sitting idly atop a Show takes place at The Hotel Irvine,
City Centre Hotel Bristol, was built in stack of other gear, but in many cases 17900 Jamboree Road, Irvine 92614.
1972 and has slightly larger, more solid actually playing music, much to the For more information, visit http://
rooms than newer hotels. A decline in delight of many visitors, me included. theshownewport.com/#more-info.
the show’s Vision element was offset I can’t say whether vinyl-based demos ] Saturday, June 25, 2–5pm: The
by a rise in the Sound sector. Indeed, were more popular than those using Los Angeles & Orange County Audio
the only proper A/V demo I saw was streamers fed by laptops and servers, Society will hold its monthly meeting
one of the Dolby Atmos immersive etc., but one visitor complained that at Sunny’s Audio and Video, in
sound system put on by Arcam’s many exhibits lacked the ability to play Covina (1370 E. Cypress Street, #D).
Andy Moore—very effectively, as it CDs. A sign of the times. Sunny’s will feature a completely
turned out. Vertere is a new brand owned new showroom with new product
Sound & Vision is owned and orga- and operated by ex-Roksan design lines by Arcam, GoldenEar, T+A,
nized by retail chain Audio T, which engineer Touraj Moghaddam. Both his and Technics. Featured products will
always manages to get plenty of boots Reference turntable and tonearm are also include Aerial, Audio Research,
on the ground to assist visitors, and strikingly original (and costly) designs, Dan D’Agostino, HRS, Meridian,
this year’s attendance and sales seemed but the most interesting development CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
healthier than many anticipated. Ac- was the new platform on which the

INDUSTRY UPDATE
turntable sits. It provides about the

most effective isolation from environ-
mental resonances I’ve ever heard, and
is adjustable around 1Hz.
I was also very taken with a new
and much less costly version of Audio
Note’s three-motor TT3 turntable
(£5000). This belt-driven model uses
three of the latest Papst motors to
maintain close dynamic rotational
precision, at a price many may consider
affordable.
Naturally using a direct-drive motor,
Technics has revived its SL-1200 as
the SL-1200GAE, using all-new tool-
ing (the originals had worn out); it also
has a brand-new price of £3000, much
higher than before.
While these devices are likely to
interest Stereophile readers, the real
activity in the turntable field seems to
be happening at much lower prices. Clockwise from top left: the latest version of
Audio Note’s TT3; Spendor’s new SP100-derived
Bridging the gap as usual, Rega Re- floorstander, the SP200; the new turntable from
search is reviving the Planar 3 name in speaker company Elipson.
creating a replacement for the highly
successful RP3. After some two years things are going, Sony’s belt-drive and French speaker brand Elipson
of work, the entire turntable and tone- PS-HX500 (£450) includes a phono are busily adding low-cost turntables
arm have been extensively revamped, stage and a high-resolution analog-to- to their portfolios, and they’re just two
giving a dramatic improvement in digital converter that can output DSD brands that I encountered; there may
sound quality. to a computer. Japanese cartridge and well be more . . .
Arguably more typical of the way headphone specialist Audio-Technica Pick of the creative design exper-
INDUSTRY UPDATE
Left to right: Neat’s new, nameless,

non-tall floorstander; Mission’s new
LX-2; a Zellaton Legacy loudspeaker,
in white; Flamingo’s system featured
products from Serbia and Greece.
tise was arguably the tiny and as yet ers point upward at around 45°. This such as the B5 ($229.99/pair), which
unnamed and unpriced floorstander means that the new floorstanding sec- was demonstrated at Sound & Vision.
seen in the Neat Acoustics room. tion can be much shorter than usual— That said, Nunu Distribution’s demo
This adds a downward-firing 5.25" the end result stands just 17.6" high. of the expensive TAD speakers was
woofer to the desktop Iota model, UltraNeat, in both name and nature. widely considered one of the best at
which tempts me to call it a Bloated Two well-known speaker brands the show.
Iota (an entirely appropriate suggestion were relaunching themselves with Mission’s new LX-2 loudspeaker
that seemed to fall on deaf ears). The compact stand-mounted speakers. (£199.95/pair) has been impressively
Iota itself is a horizontally oriented Onetime KEF/Pioneer/TAD engineer crafted by German engineer Karl-
minimonitor measuring only 7.8" wide Andrew Jones has joined German Heinz Fink, who’s been responsible
by 5.1" high by 6.4" deep, with a 2" company Elac’s lab in southern Cali- for many successful UK and US
ribbon tweeter and a 3.9" mid/woofer; fornia, where his first task has been to speakers, assisted by Steve Harris. Fink
the new floorstanding version’s driv- create the entry-level Debut series— and Harris will be joined by Mission’s
INDUSTRY UPDATE
industrial designer, Kieran Dunk, in Sound & Vision: already been appointed.
coming up with more LX models, to Naim, too, has recently upgraded
appear throughout 2016.
The Bristol Show is its power amplifiers by introducing
At the opposite end of the price comfortably the largest discrete regulation (DR) modifications;
scale, a couple of outstanding-looking and best-established its demo, comparing Naim amps with
speakers included Spendor’s SP200 and without DR, was bold and brave,
(£17,500/pair). Essentially a varia- annual audio event on yet surprisingly successful driving Fo-
tion on the SP100, the SP200 adds a the UK calendar. cal Sopra No2 speakers.
second 12" woofer to its rather larger Looking back at Sound & Vision
floorstanding enclosure. Nearly as to my place a couple of years ago, I’ve 2016, I have to say that one of the most
costly, the PL500 (£15,000/pair) is been a fan of their speakers, which memorable and interesting rooms was
the unusually tall flagship of Monitor have no internal damping. Bristol under the banner of Flamingo Audio
Audio’s new Platinum II line. The saw the introduction of the new Red Limited. It featured Zellaton speakers
smaller models superficially resemble 150 floorstander (£4000/pair), which from Germany, Beyond Frontiers
their predecessors, even if most of the sounded very impressive. This brand Audio (BFA) electronics from Serbia,
core technologies have evolved in the ought to be going places: leading Brit- and Tsakiridis Devices tube amps
nine years since the originals were ish distributor Kog Audio is handling from Greece. All of which sounds very
launched. them in the UK simply because unlikely indeed—but maybe that’s
Ever since Russell K.’s first stand- they sound so good, and eight other what hi-fi shows really ought to be
mounted models were brought down distributors around the world have about. Q
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 rooms at The Source now feature Dolby The Midwest Classical Record Show
Wilson Audio, and more. Several Atmos for a truly “surround” sound takes place at the North Shore Holiday
complete systems below $15,000 will experience. Eastwind Import will be on Inn (5300 W. Touhy Avenue, Skokie).
be highlighted. You’ll want to check hand to offer personally selected vinyl Admission: $3. For more information,
out the transformed high-end store as and CDs for sale. A raffle is planned visit www.midwestclassicalshow.com.
well. As a bonus, on Friday, June 24, and an extraordinary lunch will be
Sunny’s will host clinics conducted by served. Free parking nearby. Guests, minnesota
several manufacturer representatives visitors, and new members are invited. ] Tuesday, May 17, 7–9pm: The Audio
and focusing on setting up digital- For more information, visit www.laocas. Society of Minnesota’s May meeting
streaming and analog systems. Visit com or call Bob Levi at (714) 281-5850. will feature Jeff Haagenstad of Exogal,
www.sunnyaudiovideo.com for more a local digital audio company. Last
information. A raffle is planned, and georgia year, Exogal’s Comet DAC took the
on Saturday lunch will be served. Free ] Saturday, May 21, noon–5pm; The high-performance audio community
parking nearby. Guests, visitors, and Audio Video Club of Atlanta and by storm. This is our last meeting of
new members are invited. For more HeadphoneAudiophile.com host the season before our summer break,
information, visit www.laocas.com or CanLanta 2016, a public showcase so mark your calendar now and plan to
call Bob Levi at (714) 281-5850. of high-quality headphones, desktop attend. The meeting will be held at the
] Sunday, July 24, 2–5pm: The Los and portable audio, and accessories Pavek Museum of Broadcasting (3517
Angeles & Orange County Audio (Marriott Century Center Hotel, 2000 Raleigh Avenue, St. Louis Park 55416).
Society will hold its monthly meeting at Century Center Boulevard NE, Atlanta Refreshments will be served; guests,
The Source Audio/Video Design Group 30345; I-85 N, Exit 91 and Clairmont visitors, and new members are welcome.
(3035 Kashiwa Street, Torrance). Our Road). Keynote speaker Tyll Hertsens, For more information, visit our website:
hosts, Steven and Jason Lord, will of InnerFidelity.com, will talk about www.audiomn.org.
again demonstrate top-of-the-line the future of headphones and portable
equipment in spaces custom-designed high-resolution audio, with ample Q&A new jersey
to maximize your musical (and visual) time. Manufacturers, vendors, and ] Saturday, May 21, noon and 3pm:
enjoyment. Listen to Boulder, Dan enthusiasts will present active listening Audio Connection (615 Bloomfield
D’Agostino, Denon, Linn, Marantz, exhibits. Members and guests are also Avenue, Verona) will host Richard
MBL, McIntosh, Pearl Evolution, welcome to attend the Atlanta Record Vandersteen of Vandersteen Audio,
Simaudio Moon, Sonus Faber, Totem Show of LPs, CDs, and collectibles, Dave Gordon of Audio Research,
Acoustics, Wadia, and other fine held at the Marriott the following day, and Garth Powell of AudioQuest.
examples of high-end equipment that Sunday, May 22, 10am–4pm. Guests Discussions and demonstrations will
will allow those attending to make welcome; refreshments provided. include Vandersteen’s new M7-HPA
comparisons and/or just enjoy the For more information, contact John monoblock amplifiers with Vandersteen
music. Special industry guests will Morrison, President, at (770) 330-3919 Model 7 Mk.2 loudspeakers, Audio
include: Dan D’Agostino, who will talk or jhm3@bellsouth.net; or Chuck Bruce, Research’s new Reference 6 preamplifier
about and show his new Progression VP, at (770) 550-1434. For the latest and Reference Phono 3 SE, and
line of amps and preamps; and Ray information, visit the club’s website: AudioQuest’s new Niagara 7000 Low-Z
Kimber, who will talk about his new www.a-vcoa.org. Power Noise-Dissipation System. To
headphone cables as well as the attend one of these two sessions, RSVP:
properties and advantages of braided- illinois (973) 239-1799 or audioconnect@
wire technology. All six of the theater ] Saturday, May 14, 9:30am–3:30pm: verizon.net.
18 June 2016 Q stereophile.com

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INSIDER VIEWS ON EVERYTHING VINYL
ANALOG BY MICHAEL FREMER
CORNER
THIS ISSUE :
Two phono cartridges and a
remanufactured direct-drive turntable
pass through Mikey’s listening room.
Clearing the Shelf
T
he review gear piles up, that you rarely play
and it’s time for a late because you hate
spring cleaning—not that mono, you don’t need
any dust has gathered on a mono cartridge. But
the uniformly excellent products in the past decade
covered in this column. I’ll start or so, more vinyl
with two very different phono fans have realized
cartridges. that many so-called
“stereo” records cut
IKEDA SOUND LABS 9MONO from master tapes
MOVING-COIL CARTRIDGE: $4400 produced in the 1960s
The Ikeda Sound Labs 9mono and recorded on four-
cartridge ($4400) is a dedicated track tape decks were
mono design intended to integrate actually panned mono
well into a modern stereo system. with added reverb,
Within its curved body, made of and that these “stereo”
solid aluminum alloy, is a low-out- versions were after-
put (0.22mV) moving-coil motor the-fact mixes, often
with a very low internal impedance produced anony-
(2.0 ohms). Generally, both specs mean fewer coil windings mously, following the completion of the more important
and low moving mass. And lower mass usually means fast mono mix, in which the artists usually participated.
response and excellent detail retrieval. That was true of the Beatles, of course, and of Bob Dylan,
The 9mono’s specified vertical tracking force (VTF) is who stayed in Nashville for the mono mix of Blonde on
1.8gm, ±0.2gm. Its cantilever is a double-layer duralumin Blonde, then split, leaving the stereo mix to others. This was
pipe, to which is fastened an “oval-shaped”—presumably early 1966, and he figured that most of his fans were still
elliptical—solid diamond of unspecified dimensions. The listening in mono. He was correct.
9mono weighs 10gm, and its compliance is suitably low, at The advantage of a dedicated mono cartridge is that it
7x10–6 cm/dyne. ignores the vertical modulations caused by record warps,
Ikeda claims that they chose the 9mono’s stylus shape which produce only rumble and noise. The elimination
and dimensions to ensure compatibility with mono records of rumble is important, but so is a mono cartridge’s ability
pressed “in every period.” Original mono LPs (beginning to ignore many scratches and, depending on how an older
in 1948) were cut for a stylus with a radius of 1 mil; newer record has been played, wear.
ones (say, from the mid-1960s forward) were cut for a I once bought for a dollar, at a church rummage sale, an
0.7-mil stylus—and, of course, many of the mono LPs being original pressing of Philles Records Presents Today’s Hits (LP,
pressed today are made with a stereo cutter head and cutting Philles LP 4004), a compilation of producer Phil Spector’s
stylus. greatest up to that point. It looked trashed—but when I
The advantage of a playback stylus with an elliptical pro- played it using a mono cartridge, it sounded in near-mint
file—eg, 0.3 by 0.7 mil—is that it will ride in the groove at the condition, with just barely audible noise between tracks.
same height as a conical 0.7 mil stylus, but its 0.3 side profile The same was true of a few mono Rolling Stones LPs on
will do a much better job of tracing high-frequency groove London Records. They looked awful; they sounded nearly
modulations—especially as the groove nears the label—than perfect. Often, their visibly worn condition means you can
will a conical stylus. The fact remains that no stylus profile is pick up such valuable records for next to nothing—yet they
optimal for all mono records, but that is more an archivist’s can play as new.
problem than one we in the playback world need worry If your tonearm allows for easy headshell or armtube
about. swapping, you’re all set: alternating between stereo and
Ikeda says that, rather than modifying a stereo model, mono cartridges will be a cinch. Otherwise you’ll have to
they developed the 9mono as a mono cartridge from the invest in a second tonearm, assuming your turntable can
ground up. However, the 9mono does have two fully handle two arms—or you can replace your original arm with
independent coils, wound vertically to produce output only one that’s more accommodating.
from horizontal movements of the stylus. When used in a And if your electronics include a mono switch, you’re in
stereo system, this dual-coil design is said to avoid the hum luck. Flipping it when playing a mono record with a stereo
problems produced by some other mono cartridges. I didn’t cartridge will electronically cancel out rumble produced by
experience any hum problems with the 9mono. vertical groove modulations. While that makes mono re-
If you have only stereo LPs, or have only a few monos cords sound better, a mono cartridge considerably improves

ANALOG CORNER
the results. for by its impressive transparency and reissue of János Starker’s first recording
SOUND: The vinyl-and-SACD label tonal neutrality, plus its especially fine of J.S. Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccom-
Analog Spark has released an astonish- rendering of stage depth. If you don’t panied Cello, originally released by
ing-sounding reissue of the Original think mono can do depth, listen to EMI between 1958 and 1961 (3 LPs,
Broadway Cast recording of Lerner “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” from this EMI/ERC 33CX 1515/1656/1745), it
and Lowe’s My Fair Lady (Columbia record through the 9mono! turned into an all-evening recital end-
OL 5090/Analog Spark 88875107331), However, there was a bit less air ing in complete satiny satisfaction!
mastered by Ryan K. Smith from the and transient snap than I’d heard from
original 1956 master tape.1 I played it this reissue through other cartridges, VAN DEN HUL CRIMSON XGW
first using a stereo cartridge—with my including the Miyajima Labs Zero, so MOVING-COIL CARTRIDGE: $4994.99
darTZeel NHB-18NS preamp’s Mono I played some other familiar mono Analog pioneer A.J. van den Hul has
switch flipped—and then I played the LPs. Same story: The 9mono deliv- been designing and building high-
LP with the Ikeda 9mono. ered the detail, but wrapped it in a performance phono cartridges for
Leaving aside the audible differences pleasingly satiny finish. This was with more than 30 years.2 He began as an
between the cartridges, the 9mono the cartridge’s loading set to around audio reviewer, and from there got into
produced a tighter, better-focused, 44 ohms. Raising the loading didn’t the retipping business. His first major
totally stable image between the speak- change the satiny finish, but it did add innovation was an extreme stylus pro-
ers. This has long been my experience the expected high-frequency glare. file still used today—including in the
when comparing the playback of a The Ikeda 9mono’s smooth, surprisingly sweet-sounding van den
mono LP by a stereo cartridge (with burnished overall sound will appeal Hul Crimson XGW.
a preamp’s Mono switch engaged) to those who like the My Sonic Lab With its 0.08 by 3.5 mil stylus—the
and that same LP played by a mono and Air Tight cartridges built by latter number sounds yuuuge, but as
cartridge. I heard a similar difference Y. Matsudaira, or who think Lyra’s with all such specs, that’s the radius of
between mono and stereo cutter heads Olympos was that brand’s pinnacle. the curve of its front, not its dimen-
a few years ago, when I visited the I most enjoyed the 9mono’s stable, sion—the Crimson XGW’s van den
Electric Recording Company, in the well-organized sound, tonal neutrality, Hul 1S stylus profile can get into every
UK. and transparency. Overall, its sound nook and cranny of the groove. Thus
The Ikeda 9mono’s transient perfor- was a bit too smooth for me, but that’s
1 See my interview with Ryan K. Smith at http://
mance was on the smooth and polite just me. tinyurl.com/juflk6u.
side, bordering on soft but not quite On the other hand, when I played 2 See www.stereophile.com/interviews/1286vanint/
soft. This was more than compensated the Electric Recording Company’s index.html.
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ANALOG CORNER
it can extract maximal high- which makes sense, given that the
frequency detail, even from effective tonearm mass suggested
the part of the groove closest for the XGW is 10–16gm: add
to the record label, where the the XGW’s mass of 8.75gm and,
small groove radii scrunch were that high compliance spec
up the waveforms. When applicable to dynamic conditions,
introduced, the 1S profile you’d need a low-mass tonearm
caused concern among some in order to achieve the desired
vinyl lovers, who worried that resonant frequency of 8–12Hz.
its sharp edge would result I used the Crimson XGW
in more groove slicing than in the Kuzma 4Point tonearm,
groove tracing. But those fears which has an effective mass of
proved unfounded, at least 14gm. The cartridge tracks at a
with careful setup. light 1.35–1.5gm. Setup was rela-
Like the van den Hul tively easy, thanks to the XGW’s
Crimson XGA (amber) and high build quality. With the arm
the Crimson XGP (polycar- parallel to the record surface, the
bonate), the Crimson XGW (wood) my cartridges. stylus rake angle (SRA) was very close
is a nude design: its exposed motor is With its unusually high output to 92°, and with the cantilever perpen-
attached to a specially lacquered body of 0.9mV, it’s not surprising that the dicular to the record surface, the XGW
of koa wood, and there is no stylus Crimson’s internal resistance is 13 achieved nearly ideal channel separa-
guard. That’s something to be carefully ohms, which means a healthy number tion: +30dB in both directions, and
considered by cat owners, klutzes, of turns of 24K gold wire. vdH recom- balance within 1dB. I’d rather achieve
and people fortunate enough to have mends loading the cartridge at a value better channel balance between the
a cleaning person, because there’s no from 25 to 200 ohms. channels than maximize the separa-
way to protect the stylus from them— The 1S stylus is attached to a boron tion in one direction, which is also
or from you—and that complicates cantilever. The XGW’s channel achievable.
initial setup. I can tell you that, at the separation is specified as “ >36/30dB,” Once set up and loaded at about 200
end of each listening session, before its static compliance as 35μm/ ohms using the Ypsilon MC-10L step-
heading upstairs, I’m in the habit of mN. You’d halve that figure for the up transformer, with no resistors in the
replacing the stylus guards on each of dynamic compliance (unspecified), Ypsilon’s loading jacks, the Crimson
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ANALOG CORNER
XGW produced sound unlike that of a side-2 solo that produced surprising I then played many very familiar
any other vdH cartridge I’ve reviewed. slam. Paul Desmond’s alto sax, at cen- recordings (space does not permit a
I’m preconditioned to the lightning- ter stage, was appropriately light and full accounting), including an original
fast—some would say threadbare— breathy—and the sound of Brubeck’s pressing, mastered by Artisan Sound
excitement of vdH’s tightly sprung piano, though slightly thickened, was Recorders, of the Grateful Dead’s
Colibri and Grasshopper cartridges; equally convincing. American Beauty (LP, Warner Bros.
the sound of the Crimson XGW was Side 3, on which Bennett is backed 1893). This confirmed the above ob-
precisely the opposite: it was a warm, by the Ralph Sharon Trio, continued servations, but also made clear that the
sweet, and well textured performance— the impression that the Crimson XGW’s emphasis was on instrumental
and yet, arguably because of the stylus XGW’s sound tended toward the very textures, as well as on the riches of the
profile, it was well-detailed, as well. rich but tonally well balanced, with a upper bass and lower midband—and
Rather than play familiar records, I super-creamy, well-resolved midrange, that its top end, while satisfying, pro-
began with unknowns, including Tony and pleasingly fast but unhyped highs duced less than the full measure of gen-
Bennett and Dave Brubeck’s The White and transients. Bennett, center stage, uine air and sparkle. This may explain
House Sessions, Live 1962 (2 LPs, Co- sounded live-in-the-”room,” cushioned why van den Hul recommends such a
lumbia/Legacy/Impex 602), recorded by the night air. Bennett sings “I Left wide range of loading options (25–200
August 28, 1962, at the National My Heart in San Francisco”—his hit ohms). In terms of rhythm’n’pace, the
Sylvan Theater, an outdoor amphithe- single of the song had been released Crimson XGW tended toward the
ater near the base of the Washington only the previous February—and if you “slower, and let me linger over it” side
Monument. The tapes, long lost, were set the level just right, you are there in of the speed divide.
found in 2012, having been misfiled a way that, in my opinion, no digital There are faster, leaner, more
in Sony’s archive of classical master format can yet manage. detailed cartridges out there, including
tapes. The credits state that the tapes Side 4 is an impromptu Bennett/ some at this price, but the Crimson
were mixed and mastered by Mark Brubeck collaboration that begins with XGW produced weight and structure
Wilder, at Battery Studios, and cut by “Lullaby of Broadway.”3 Although that such models usually shortchange—
Kevin Gray, at Cohearent Audio. The this set was a surprise for everyone, and, of course, your tastes and associ-
latter usually means from digital files, especially Columbia’s engineers, the ated equipment will strongly influence
probably at 24-bit/96kHz, but in this sound is superb. (It turns out that the how this cartridge will sound to you
case that’s a guess—the closely miked late Frank Bruno, one of the location in your system. For those who like
sound decoded by the Crimson XGW engineers, was the father of my wife’s full-bodied but not excessive meat-
was rich and full-bodied, yet three- boss. I repeatedly tried to interview on-the-bone textures and full-figured
dimensional and spookily transparent. I him, but he never wanted to talk.) harmonics, and who prize solid, three-
could feel and almost smell the humid, On the basis of The White House dimensional imaging, the van den
late-summer air. However, I felt that Sessions, Live 1962, I concluded that the Hul Crimson XGW is well worth con-
either the vdH was adding midband Crimson XGW was a well-detailed sidering. I thoroughly enjoyed listening
richness, or the humidity must have yet rich-sounding cartridge with an to it, particularly with vocal music and
been 100%. essentially neutral tonal balance that small-ensemble classical music, but less
Joe Morello’s well-textured kick nonetheless “pushed” a bit in the so on rock.
drum had fully satisfying sock and midband. I also concluded that it was
dynamic thrust, while his various a fine tracker that ignored minor LP 3 “Lullaby of Broadway” also appears on Bennett’s
cymbals, though warmed by the blemishes, and produced impressively At Carnegie Hall, recorded just two months earlier and
reissued on vinyl (2 LPs, Columbia/Legacy/Ana-
outdoor setting, had pleasingly fast, “black” backgrounds and wide, stable logue Productions APP 823), for the first time from
precise attacks, as did his snare during soundstages. the three-track master tape.
PBN AUDIO GROOVEMASTER controlled by quartz-crystal oscillators for another 40 years,” says Noerbaek.
VINTAGE DIRECT PBN-DP6 and regulated by pulse-width modula- Each GrooveMaster Vintage Direct
DIRECT-DRIVE TURNTABLE: $8500 tion. The platter of the PBN-DP6 goes into a gorgeous, curvaceous plinth
The talented electronics designer Peter weighs a little under 4 lbs. A DC elec- available in a variety of hardwoods.
B. Noerbaek, who designs and manu- trical brake system results in smooth The plinth is a laminate of three layers,
factures electronics for PBN Audio and operation and speed changes. each 1.625" thick, each layer’s grain at
Liberty Audio, also makes the hand- The prices, which include a Jelco an angle of 120° to the others. Before
some line of GrooveMaster Vintage tonearm, range from $5500 (PBN- the stainless-steel caps and feet are
Direct turntables, based on four classic DP3) to $9500 (PBN-DP8). Every added, each plinth weighs about 16 lbs.
Denon direct-drive models of the original Denon ’table is completely dis- The model supplied was the PBN-
1970s: the PBN-DP2, based on De- assembled and rebuilt. Noerbaek uses DP6, fitted with a Jelco SA-750EB—a
non’s DP-2000 (1978); the PBN-DP3 only the original’s motor, platter, circuit 9.5" curved tonearm that retails sepa-
(Denon DP-3000, 1973); the PBN- board, and speed-sensing head. The rately for around $570. The cost of this
DP6 (Denon DP-6000, 1976); and the boards are overhauled: the electrolytic combination is $8500. You can specify
PBN-DP8 (Denon DP-80, 1980). caps and most of the transistors are any tonearm you wish, but once it’s in-
These designs differ slightly from replaced. Also new are the pushbuttons stalled, you can’t later opt for a longer
one another, but each has a relatively and potentiometers, the plate on which or shorter version. Almost all of the
lightweight platter of die-cast alumi- they’re mounted, and the motor’s mas- work is done in-house at PBN Audio,
num directly driven by an AC motor sive aluminum mounting plate. “Good including the CNC woodworking and

ANALOG CORNER
an original pressing of Charles Lloyd’s

Discovery (LP, Columbia CS 9067). I’d
never had one and had always wanted
it. At the time (1965), Lloyd was a
member of the Cannonball Adderley
Sextet, and this was his first recording
session as leader, backed by Don Fried-
man on piano, with either Eddie Khan
and Roy Haynes or Richard Davis
and J.C. Moses on bass and drums,
respectively. This wonderful recording,
I thought, told me everything I needed
to know about this turntable-tonearm
combo—not that it was the only record
I played! Backgrounds were quiet,
images stable, and the bass was nimble
and tight, if not as fully extended as
what’s on the record. The top end was
wonderfully open and airy, with tran-
PBN has done all the sients finely yet smoothly articulated,
work. The GrooveMaster and a well-developed sense of studio
Vintage Direct PBN- space behind the players.
DP6 is a stunning-look- PBN’s GrooveMaster Vintage Direct
ing turntable you’ll want series isn’t for the DIY crowd, and part
to have on display. of what you’re paying for in the PBN-
SOUND: The PBN-DP6’s DP6 is its gorgeous looks—but for
ribbed rubber record the guy or gal who wants a compact
mat wouldn’t be my first showpiece that will be trouble free,
choice, but that’s how I sound great, play at the correct speed,
first listened to the turn- and likely remain dependable for years
table. I found that it was to come, one of these GrooveMasters
better to turn over the would be a good choice. Q
mat (ribs down), which Michael Fremer (fremer@analogplanet.
Left: PBN-DP6, speed stability data. Right: PBN-DP6, speed stability creates a flat surface com) is the editor of AnalogPlanet.com, a
graph (raw frequency yellow; low-pass filtered frequency green). for the record to better Stereophile website devoted to all things
couple to. (The raised analogical.
finishing. Noerbaek told me that the center section of the PBN-DP6’s plat-
lead finisher at his factory works the ter will narrow your choice of alternate
day shift at PBN, and then an evening mats.) CONTACTS
shift at Taylor Guitars, which is also I ended up using a Funk Firm
based in El Cajon, California. Achromat on top of PBN’s inverted Ikeda Sound Labs
Noerbaek supplied a plug’n’play mat, and raising the tonearm’s pillar to Japan
PBN-DP6 with a Lyra Etna cartridge maintain the proper vertical tracking Web: www.islabs.co.jp
already installed and aligned in the angle (VTA) and SRA. I also used a US distributor: Aaudio Imports
Jelco’s headshell. All I had to do was Stillpoints Ultra LP Isolator atop the 4871 Raintree Drive
set VTF, and plug in the straight DIN- spindle, in place of the PBN’s supplied Parker, CO 80134
to-RCA cable (supplied at extra cost) record weight; the latter produced no- Tel: (303) 264-8831
and the angled power cord. ticeably better bass, more solid images, Web: www.aaudioimports.com
The PBN-DP6 was up and running and “blacker” backgrounds.
within 10 minutes of being unpacked. It was difficult to separate the A.J. van den Hul
Its built-in strobe confirmed that the PBN-DP6’s sound quality from that The Netherlands
platter was rotating at a precise 331⁄3 of the inexpensive Jelco tonearm. All I web: www.vandenhul.com
or 45rpm, with small deviations, as the can say is that that combination, with US distributor: Finest Fidelity Inc.
excellent measurements shown in figs. the Lyra Etna cartridge, produced the 3 Sagebrook Drive
1 and 2 demonstrate; the pitch is easily kind of smooth, open, well-articulated, Bluffton, SC 29910
adjusted within ±6%. effortless, stable reproduction of music Tel: (386) 341-9103
Denon made and sold a lot of direct- that can easily convert almost anyone Web: www.finestfidelity.net
drive turntables. Yes, you can go on hooked on digital, and who is willing PBN Audio
eBay or elsewhere and find many for to do the minimal work required to 380 Vernon Way
sale, with and without plinths, and in spin records. Suites I and J
various conditions. So if you’re into Recently, during a visit to High Fi- El Cajon, CA 92020
DIY, have fun! But for those who want delity, the Los Feliz, L.A., record store Tel: (619) 440-8237
a fully reconditioned Denon direct- owned by Mike Hobson, cofounder of Web: www.pbnaudio.com
drive in a drop-dead-gorgeous plinth, Classic Records, I found, for around $8,

Breath.
It’s what separates man from corpse.
It’s what makes those tiny audiophile hairs on your neck
stand to attention once detected by your midsagittal
corpus callosum.
(That’s the area of the brain reserved for musicality.
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Breath is what our founders, German scientists from
Bochum University, valued above all else.
To make a machine breathe, you have to be a good
scientist.
A very good one, in fact.
One who never asks, ”Does it sound good?“
Just ”Is it right?“
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Which is what all our work and shared money burning
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Meet our high-performance breathing machines that
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Dealer inquires welcome.
IN SEARCH OF THE EXCEPTIONAL
LISTENING BY ART DUDLEY

THIS ISSUE : Auditions of the
Tavish Audio Adagio phono preamp
and a disappointing LP reissue.
Notes on the American Stage
T
hough Westchester County, New York, seems thus taking full advantage of the tubes’ potential: “If you use
a likelier locale for Bikram yoga studios, pet passive equalization everywhere, you’re throwing away some
psychologists, and pricey restaurants specializing in of that potential.”
“grain bowls” and fermented vegetables, the idea While the Adagio uses only RCA jacks as MM inputs,
of manufacturing audio gear there is not without precedent. each of its channels has two MC inputs: one RCA and one
Cartridge manufacturer Micro-Acoustics (Elmsford, NY) XLR, wired together in parallel. The positive signal goes to
thrived there for over two decades. George Kaye and Har- XLR pin 2, the negative signal to pin 3, and pin 1 is con-
vey Rosenberg’s New York Audio Laboratories (Croton-on- nected to ground. (The negative contact of the MC RCA
Hudson, NY) assembled Moscode amplifiers there. Even jack is not grounded.) From the XLR jack, the input signal
the notorious loudspeaker manufacturer Fourier Systems goes to the balanced primary coil of a Jensen JT-44K-DX
(Yonkers, NY and Cocytus, Hell) got their start in the step-up transformer, which adds 20dB to the MM gain
county that Hillary Clinton calls home, as needed. stage: the Adagio provides 44dB of MM gain and 64dB of
Tavish Design (Amawalk, NY) is one of the newer names MC gain.
on that lofty list. Founded by engineer Scott Reynolds, Tav- In addition to On/Standby and Mute toggle switches, the
ish offers three phono preamplifier models and a 140Wpc Adagio’s front panel has three other controls. A six-position
integrated amplifier. Tavish is also notable for offering their rotary switch on the left, which affects only the MM inputs,
two entry-level phono preamps as kits, available with or allows the user to choose among six capacitive loads, ranging
without case—and, for the adventuresome, with or without from 20pF (labeled Min) to 350pF; a similar switch on the
parts. (On Tavish’s e-commerce site, one can spend as little right affects only the MC inputs and offers six resistive loads,
as $65: the price of a partless printed-circuit board.) from 100 to 500 ohms (labeled Max); a third toggle switch
Tavish’s two least-expensive phono stages combine selects between MC and MM
vacuum tubes and JFETs; their integrated amplifier, the settings. (The actual switch-
Minotaur, is also a hybrid (geddit?). But only tubes are used The idea of ing is done with a low-signal
in the audio circuitry of their top-of-the-line phono pream- manufacturing relay.) Except for its chassis-
plifier, the Adagio ($1490), which is equipped with separate audio gear in mounted step-up transform-
input jacks for moving-magnet (MM) and moving-coil ers, all of the Adagio’s audio
(MC) cartridges. Westchester circuitry is mounted on a
For the Adagio’s MM inputs, a pair of ECC83/12AX71 County is single circuit board, and the
dual-triodes comprise the first gain stage, with a third parts quality is excellent.
ECC83/12AX7 acting as a buffer, followed by a passive not without Good-quality parts also
shelving filter for the first stage of de-emphasis. From there, precedent. abound in the Adagio’s out-
two EF806 miniature pentode tubes comprise the board power supply, which
second gain stage, around which a single includes a chunky mains
ECC82/12AU7 dual-triode produces the
second stage of equalization. According to 1 Depending on what tubes he has in
stock, Reynolds sometimes substitutes
Scott Reynolds, an active stage of equaliza- 5751 dual-triodes for the ECC82/12AX7
tion helps ensure high overload margins, tubes.

LISTENING
transformer from Maryland-based of my Shindo Laboratory Masseto ing the force and touch of plucked and
Toroid Corporation, and all-solid-state preamplifier; in that setting, I was able struck notes.
devices for rectification and regulation. to compare the Adagio with both the But it was with Leonard Bernstein
The main enclosure measures 8.6" Masseto’s own phono stage and my and the New York Philharmonic’s
wide by 10.2" deep (not taking into borrowed sample of Shindo’s outboard recording of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony
account protruding jacks, etc.), while phono preamp, the Aurieges Equalizer 4 (original “six-eyes” LP, Columbia
the power supply is the same depth Amplifier. Masterworks MS 6035) that the Tavish
but only 8" wide; the power supply is I began with my usual combina- impressed the hell out of me. This
a little over 2" high, while the main tion of EMT TSD 15 pickup and fairly typical late-1950s US Columbia
enclosure is almost twice that (3.9"), Hommage T2 transformer, the latter recording is vivid, clear, and occasion-
partly because the tops of the tubes connected to the Tavish Adagio’s MM ally (but not consistently) impactful,
protrude through the six holes made input. When I played the well-known yet it also betrays some really clumsy
for them in the nicely finished cover, recording of the Brahms Clarinet gain-riding, and it’s a bit bright, per-
and partly owing to the addition of two Quintet by members of the Vienna haps from being too closely miked
protective roll bars. The Tavish Adagio: Octet (LP, Decca SXL 2297), the (the opening trumpet fanfare is brash,
part phono preamp, part dune buggy. Adagio, thus configured, sounded as is much that follows). The Tavish
Tavish Audio’s specs for the Adagio beautifully, prettily clear, in a pleasantly didn’t put paint and putty over that
are impressive: Scott Reynolds claims liquid sort of way. It provided natural brightness, but it seemed to keep the
signal/noise ratios of 84dB for the instrumental colors in good enough glare from getting out of control, and
MM inputs, 82dB for MC (both A- amounts, even if it was very slightly presented the recording with the huge
weighted). Output overload, which pallid in comparison to the Masseto’s sense of scale that seems appropriate to
Reynolds defines as 1% total harmonic own phono section—or, depending it, doing so to a greater extent than the
distortion, is greater than 44V RMS on your perspective, the Shindo was phono section of my Shindo Masseto
into 10k ohms at 1kHz. And RIAA slightly oversaturated and excessively (itself noted for being big about things
accuracy is claimed to be within 0.2dB, contrasty. Detail and overall sonic open- when called for). And in the second
20Hz–20kHz.2 Nice. ness were exceptional with the Tavish: movement’s upbeat second theme, the
brisk wisps of melody consistently color and texture of the woodwinds
Larva, pupa, phono made musical and not merely sonic 2 Scott Reynolds also makes a point of noting that
I spent a few weeks with the Tavish sense, sometimes even more so than his RIAA de-emphasis curve does not incorporate
the so-called Neumann pole. See Keith Howard’s
Adagio in my own system, directing with the Masseto, though the latter discussion of this at www.stereophile.com/features/
its output to one of the line inputs persisted in excelling at communicat- cut_and_thrust_riaa_lp_equalization/index.html.
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LISTENING
According to
Reynolds, an
active stage of
eq helps ensure
high overload
margins.
Left: A Tavish Adagio, missing
its cover and all of its tubes.
Right: The Adagio’s power
supply, also uncovered.
Scherzo were convincing.

But the pizzicato strings
that define and drive the
movement had less impact
and touch than through
the T2.
Still, apart from that
comparative lack of touch,
the Tavish was nigh unto
faultless. Continuing to
and strings were to die for (a sentiment matching the qualities imparted by the indulge a temporary Tchaikovsky
with which P. Tchaikovsky was okay, Hommage T2—or, dare I say, other mania, I tried the recording by Georg
I’m sure). very good transformers—that wasn’t to Solti and the Israel Philharmonic of the
My next step, obviously, was to try be. In the symphony’s third movement, composer’s Serenade for Strings (LP,
the Adagio’s MC section. As much tonal colors and textures were fine; the London CS 6066, the rare London
as I would have enjoyed the pleasant flutes were clear yet substantive, and “blueback” LP to command higher
surprise of the Tavish’s extra gain stage the subdued, staccato horns later in this prices than its Decca SXL counterpart),
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LISTENING
and was impressed once again was in the spatial sense that
by the Tavish’s good color, tex- I heard some of the great-
ture, and scale—not to men- est differences between the
tion its thoroughly excellent Shindo and Tavish stages: The
sense of musical momentum. Masseto did an overall better
The sense of touch on note job not only at sounding big
attacks and suchlike wasn’t but, when called for, sound-
completely lacking from the ing as if the recording space
Tavish’s sound: It’s just that itself were charged with the
that characteristic was less performance’s energy, and not
generous than with a top-shelf just reverberated sound. Put
transformer in the system. another way, the Tavish wasn’t
With the Tavish Adagio quite as good at allowing the
still set for MC cartridges, I Mingus album to sound ap-
swapped out my EMT TSD propriately chaotic.
15 pickup head for a Shindo But let’s not lose per-
SPU—a lower-output, lower- spective: the comparatively
impedance pickup than the EMT, and Shindo SPU and Tavish Adagio did not inexpensive Tavish Adagio punched
one that requires slightly more down- disappoint; so it was when I listened above its weight. And its overall good
force (2.8 vs 2.5gm) and slightly greater to Charles Mingus’s wonderful Oh sense of force—of which, I suppose,
arm height. (Some users report prefer- Yeah (LP, Atlantic 1377), in which the one could say it was punchy above its
ring significantly greater arm height composer and bandleader plays piano, weight—was not limited to recordings
with the Shindo SPU; so far, I haven’t sings, shouts, and leaves the bass play- in which that quality is so overtly dis-
come around to that point of view.) As ing to someone else: Doug Watkins, played: When I used the Adagio to lis-
I listened to overtly compressed rock late of Sonny Rollins’s Saxophone ten to the recording of the Schumann
recordings from the early 1970s—eg, Colossus. I found the Adagio thoroughly Cello Concerto made in 1969 by
King Crimson’s Red (LP, Discipline satisfying—praise that isn’t the least bit Jacqueline du Pré, Daniel Barenboim,
Global KCLP7)—the combination of faint. Watkins’s string bass had force and the New Philharmonia (LP, EMI
Shindo SPU and Tavish Adagio proved and snap, especially in “Hog Callin’ ASD 2498), I was struck—again, ap-
equal to the combination of Shindo Blues”—and in that same number, propriately—by the physical intensity
SPU and Shindo Masseto phono the very present sound of Roland of the soloist’s playing.
stage in preserving and perhaps even Kirk’s tenor sax was no less impres- With record after record, the Tavish
maximizing what little real impact is sive than through the Masseto phono Design Adagio proved itself a high-
preserved in the groove. The distinc- stage. Spatially, this stereo recording value and consistently engaging phono
tions that remained were mostly tonal is peculiar, with the sounds of some stage. That’s good news, because it’s
and textural, the Adagio presenting less instruments—including that Kirk solo— also well made, agreeably styled, and,
richness, and a slightly brighter sound panned hard left or right. (Although unlike so much of its overpriced com-
overall—the latter accounting for a Oh Yeah doesn’t sound as overtly edgy petition, no larger than it needs to be.
hair more sparkle in the sound of Ian as other recordings made by engineer One assumes the made-in-Westchester
McDonald’s alto saxophone. Tom Dowd, it does nothing to alter Adagio will soon be seen and heard in
Given a more generously force- his reputation for being sonically more than a few homes, suburban and
ful recording, the combination of indifferent if musically astute.) And it otherwise.
A PRESSING MATTER slightly noisy, the spine of its jacket a the first of the two LPs from its inner
In fall 2014, at the Brooklyn Audio bit tatty. I reached for my wallet, my sleeve, I saw that its label was marred
Show, I was browsing a vendor’s selec- proffered $50 bill disappeared into a by a crease permanently pressed in
tion of LPs when a newly reissued title cash box, and I walked away with LP place. My mind raced with thoughts
caught my eye: In the Wind, by Peter, no. 00187 of this reportedly limited of the groceries I could have brought
Paul and Mary, originally released in edition. home for $50.
1963 as Warner Bros. WS1507. This That indecorous waste of money My hopes were shaken but not shat-
most recent incarnation was offered on must now come in for some righteous tered: After all, the sound’s the thing,
two 45rpm LPs, packaged in a “deluxe criticism, part of which is reserved for and I had every reason to believe that
gatefold” jacket and priced at $50. I myself: Had I stopped to think, I might this expensive, audiophile-grade record
examined said jacket for a sign of the have wondered just how “limited” would sound a lot better than my
record’s provenance, and saw that it an edition could be when five digits original—which I’d bought in the early
was manufactured by the Rhino Enter- are reserved for serial numbers. And 1980s at the same Yonkers used-book
tainment Company and distributed by when I removed the shrink-wrap and store that supplied most of my vinyl
the Original Recordings Group. examined the new album, I discovered needs in those days.3
I already owned a copy of the inside the gatefold jacket nothing more
3 The other stores I frequented were an independent
original album—possibly the trio’s “deluxe” than a washed-out, low-con- record store in White Plains called TuneMasters
finest, coincidentally recorded in very trast scan of the same photo used on (whose proprietor was so unpleasant that everyone I
knew called it TuneBastards), and the mostly excel-
good stereo sound by engineer Bill the front cover, plus the track list from lent record department of the White Plains branch of
Schwartau—but I knew my copy was the back cover. And when I slipped Harvey Electronics.

LISTENING
On the evening of my return home showed, on occasion, an adventurous-

from the Brooklyn show, I warmed up ness in music selection that could serve
my playback system and lowered the as a model to others. Cisco Music,
needle to record one, side one, expect- reincarnated as Impex Records, has
ing to be impressed—perhaps even done stellar work. I can’t think of a
Blown Away—by a clear and present single Speakers Corner LP reissue that
facsimile of the vigorously strummed wasn’t superbly chosen and brilliantly
guitars that open “Very Last Day,” executed—and there have been many.
and of the voices of Peter, Paul, and And the Electric Recording Company
Mary (to whose names as individuals exists on a separate, higher plane of
I am free to apply the serial comma). quality than all the others, at prices of
What I heard instead was a slightly equal otherworldliness.
duller-sounding version of the record I But the LP-reissue industry still has
already owned. I also noticed that the to up its labeling game. I don’t care
softest sounds on the reissue were cut about “superstar” mastering engi-
at a higher volume than on the origi- neers—that’s just bullshit—but I do
nal, while the reissue’s loudest sounds I don’t care about think people who buy expensive reis-
were no louder than the original’s. The “superstar” mastering sues deserve to know whether or not
Indians called it compression. the original master tape was used for
Apart from the surface noise, my
engineers—that’s the new lacquers, and whether a digital
old copy of In the Wind—when new, just bullshit. safety copy of same was used to drive
it probably went for two bucks and the lathe: it’s disgraceful when com-
change at an E.J. Korvette or Sam panies persist in not spelling this out.4
Goody store—sounded better than by comparison, sounded veiled, less Consumers also deserve to know what
the supposedly audiophile-quality detailed, and less dynamically nuanced. kind of equipment was used to cut the
record for which I’d just paid $50. I I can already hear the excuses, chief master, including whether the preview
won’t exaggerate: the reissue wasn’t among which will surely be: Maybe mechanism was analog or digital. They
drastically worse than the reissue, the original tape, from which the new LP is deserve to know where the finished
just slightly worse. But slightly worse claimed to have been mastered, had deterio- LPs were pressed. They deserve to
was worse enough. The differences rated. Yes, maybe the tape had deterio- know the number of copies to which
between original and reissue were on rated—in which case, no one should be a limited edition is limited. And they
a par with the differences between selling the sorry-ass final product for deserve to know if the artists or their
the original album’s cover art and the $50 a pop, at least not without a sticker heirs will share in the proceeds. And
reissue’s versions of same, the latter on the front cover that says: “THIS if you’re charging someone $50 for an
obviously made from scans of a good- DIDN’T COME OUT THE WAY WE album, printing all of that information
condition jacket rather than from the WANTED, BUT BY THE TIME THAT on a slip of paper, or at least putting
original typesetting film and screened BECAME APPARENT WE’D INVESTED it on your website, isn’t too much to
photographs. TOO MUCH MONEY AND WE NEED ask—unless, of course, you don’t want
I didn’t wind up playing the entire TO MAKE IT BACK.” I’m thinking your customers to know.
album over and over again. I didn’t Day-Glo pink. And if anyone is interested in Peter,
wind up playing the entire album No doubt I will also be assured that Paul and Mary’s In the Wind—a beauti-
even once. After just one side, I filed it my criticisms are ill-founded, simply fully crafted document of a remarkable
away, hoping that neither my wife nor because the reissuing of any great LP time in the history of American folk
my daughter would ask how I liked is a labor of love. I’m sure that’s true music—they’re better off buying a used
my new record. (They didn’t.) I was in the cases of some LP vendors, but is original for a buck and change than
disgusted. More to the point, I was that reason enough to support, without spending any amount of money on the
embarrassed for having thrown away question, inefficiencies and occasional Original Recordings Group reissue. Q
enough money to buy a standing rib glaring screwups occurring within an Art Dudley (STletters@sorc.com) gets
roast. I just wanted to forget the whole obviously profitable industry—especially grumpy over poor-quality records in the
thing. one that sells new versions of the same bucolic heaven of upstate New York.
And I did—until February 2016, tired titles every few years? I don’t
when I got on one of my biannual think so. 4 No company on Earth exhibits a greater need for
improvement in this respect than Universal Music
folkie kicks and started pulling from I endure in regarding as worthwhile Enterprises (UMe), the catalog/reissue division of the
the shelves all of my records by Phil the vast majority of contemporary LP Universal Music Group (UMG).
Ochs, the Greenbriar Boys, Joan Baez, reissues I’ve heard, especially those
Dave Van Ronk, and Peter, Paul and that sell for $30 or less, that spin at
Mary—and rediscovered the overpriced 33 1⁄3 rpm, and whose jackets don’t bear CONTACTS
reissue that I’d forgotten about. (Ag- the words Kind of Blue. Mobile Fidelity
ing is good for some things.) Again Sound Lab has, over the course of Tavish Design, LLC
I compared the Warner Bros. and its many years, done some awesome PO Box 129
ORG releases of In the Wind, and again work (although I sometimes wish they Amawalk, NY 10501
concluded that the latter is worse than didn’t alter the cover art with their Tel: (914) 262-6988
the original. The original LP sounded logo). Classic Records, may they rest in Web: www.tavishdesign.com
great; the reissue sounded okay—but, peace, had more hits than misses, and

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EXPLORING THE ANALOG ADVENTURE
GRAMOPHONE
DREAMS
THIS ISSUE :
BY HERB REICHERT A classic turntable revisited
and a high-value phono cartridge and
phono preamp combination.
The Road to Valhalla
T
his Gramophone Dream is about my
continuing adventures as I slowly scale
the pyramid of analog audio. I’m still
too close to the sandy earth to see the
mythical gold tip or enjoy a six-figure super-
turntable. However, in this month’s episode, I do
reach a level where I can relax, play some eternally
beautiful music, and peer out over the vast desert
of record-player mediocrity.
While writing about the Pioneer PLX-1000
turntable in my March 2015 column, I decided
to acquire a Linn Sondek LP12 and hear how this
notoriously musical, belt-driven, audiophile ’table
might compare to that rugged DJ deck, whose job it was to ter bearing many times, its power supply thrice (Valhalla,
replace the Technics SL-1200 Mk.2. To that end, I was able Lingo, Radikal), and its subchassis at least five times. They’ve
to acquire a low-mileage Sondek LP12 with a clean-as-new introduced new baseboards (the plate at the bottom of the
platter bearing, a Valhalla power supply, and a Linn Basik LV plinth, to which the feet are fastened), including one made
X tonearm. Game on! of solid aluminum. Add to this a wide range of tonearms
1946: SME Ltd. is established (England). and cartridges, and it’s clear that Linn has invested more
1957: First Thorens belt-cum-rim-drive TD 124 turntables than four decades of consistent invention into a very basic
are produced (Switzerland). record-playing system that countless audiophiles believe is
1973: First Linn Sondek LP12 turntables are produced unsurpassed. Which reminds me:
(Scotland). 1993: My then-favorite Stereophile reviewer, Corey Green-
1975: Dynavector Systems is founded by Dr. N. Tominari berg, writes: “If you asked me to name a single specific
(Japan). high-end audio component that could make or break a sys-
1989: I own a Shindo-modded Garrard 301 with Ortofon tem, I’d name the Linn LP12 turntable. Of all the thousands
tonearm and SPU cartridge. of hi-fi products I’ve heard over the years, not a one of ’em—
1993: Linn Products introduces its first CD player (Scotland). not a speaker, amplifier, or digital processor—has been able
1993: I own a Sony Discman CD player and three turntables: to draw me into the music, no matter what the associated
a Denon DP-3000 direct-drive ’table with Denon step-up componentry, like the LP12.”1
transformer and Denon DL-103 cartridge; a Thorens TD Meanwhile, today, a nice used LP12 with Valhalla power
124 ’table with Fidelity Research FR64s tonearm and Supex supply costs less than $1000 on eBay. And because informa-
900 Super cartridge; and a SOTA Sapphire ’table with tion, upgrades, and parts are so widely available, vintage
Sumiko MDC-800 “The Arm” tonearm and van den Hul– Linn LP12s are timeless and eminently serviceable—even by
modified Koetsu cartridge. I also had a borrowed Linn LP12 the owner.
Valhalla with Linn Ittok arm and stock Koetsu Rosewood
Signature cartridge. At the time, I loved the Koetsus, the Setup
FR64s, and the MDC-800. I felt certain the Thorens was Many audiophiles have shied away from the LP12 be-
the best turntable. Today, I am a different sort of audiophile cause they perceived the Linn experience as precious, the
altogether. turntable itself as fussy. They were certain they could never
Linn’s logo represents a stylus tip touching the surface master the black art of setup, and the nearest Linn dealer
of a record. That logo was designed in 1972. Today, Linn is was in the next state. They imagined their LP12s going out
a sophisticated, forward-thinking digital company that still of “tune” easily and often—and then what? Maybe it would
makes LP12s because, I imagine, they feel they must. The never be right again!
turntable is their iconic root—their identity. Linn’s cur- I shared these fears. However, writing about budget turn-
rent entry-level turntable system, the LP12 Majik (simple tables has precipitated in me an uncontrollable need to be-
onboard power supply, simple subchassis, unsuspended come intimate with this most legendary of audiophile record
baseboard, Pro-Ject 9cc tonearm, Linn Adikt cartridge) costs spinners. I assuaged my fears by calling my friend, Sound
$4320; their fully loaded Klimax record-playing system & Vision contributor and professional turntable technician
(Radikal DC motor and outboard power supply, Keel one- Michael Trei. I asked him if he would guide me through the
piece subchassis-armboard, Urika onboard phono preamp, entire process, from updating the Valhalla’s power supply
Ekos SE tonearm, Kandid MC cartridge), costs $17,200. The and dressing its power and tonearm cables to getting its
current LP12 (turntable only) costs $2630.
Over the years, Linn has upgraded the LP12’s plat- 1 Stereophile, December 1993, Vol.16 No.12: http://tinyurl.com/zlrcskf.

GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
three-spring suspension to bounce just the rhythms” or “When the music sound. Unfortunately, there was no
so. He has the official Linn setup jig—a becomes fully communicative and well hiding from the puffy, one-note bass—
metal frame-style stand that holds the sorted out.” low-frequency detail was soft and
turntable still and provides access to Most important to me, the LP12 is smeared, all the way up into the male
its innards—and knows lots of special an established benchmark for audio- vocal range. Midrange tone seemed
little tricks that only practice can teach. phile-quality LP playback. natural but thin, with blurry textures.
Since the 1980s, he’s set up more than Trei opined that the Dynavector DV-
300 LP12s. The Linn LV X tonearm 20X2 cartridge then in use was putting
After two refurbishing sessions with When Michael Trei and I finished too much energy into the Linn Basik
Trei, I’m certain: If you can change the updating and setting up my Sondek LV X arm—a discontinued medium-
spark plugs on your 1958 MGA, you LP12, the first record we played was mass arm that was, in its day, offered
can set up your LP12. Everything you Black Uhuru’s Red, produced by Sly as an entry-level choice.3 Nevertheless,
need to know about tuning and restor- Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare (LP, the sound was musical and fun, and
ing a classic LP12 is covered in minute Mango MLPS 9625A), which we’d certainly the most organic analog I’d
detail and illustrated with excellent just played a little earlier on my Tech- experienced in-house since I began
photos in the Linn Forum’s 31-web- nics SL-1200 Mk.2 turntable with Abis writing for Stereophile.
page “LP12 Set-up—a brief overview.”2 SA-1.2 tonearm and Zu Denon DL-
I’m attracted to the LP12 partly 103 cartridge—it had sounded hashy SME M2-9 tonearm: $1099
because it seems like the ultimate anti- and grainy through the midrange. We Replacing the Linn LV X tonearm
objectivist deck. Proper setup includes listened to “Sponji Reggae” on my new with the SME M2-9 that I wrote about
many judgment calls about unquantifi- Sondek for about 20 seconds, and Trei in April was like switching from a vin-
able matters: a visual assessment of looked at me and laughed. “Remem- tage MX-5 Miata to a shiny new Lotus
the “pistonic” quality of the bounce ber that old audiophile cliché? The Europa. I’m not sure I’ve heard a more
of the subchassis, a tactile assessment lifting of many veils?” Embarrassed for dramatic change in the sound of an
to confirm that fasteners are all “Linn the Technics, I laughed too. audio system than the one produced by
tight”—a term straight out of Linn’s The difference was radical. Trans-
1980s-era setup manual. How does parency had increased tenfold. On the 2 Linn Forums: http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/
one know when his or her Sondek LP12, this well-worn LP by Michael showthread.php?tid=9941 and http://forums.linn.
co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=2926.
is properly tuned? LP12 fanatics say Rose, Sandra “Puma” Jones, and Der-
3 The original Linn Basik tonearm came equipped
things like “When you can follow the rick “Duckie” Simpson sounded as I with a Basik cartridge: a high-compliance, moving-
musical plot” or “When you can feel knew, in my heart, it was supposed to magnet, rebranded Audio-Technica.
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
this simple tonearm swap. Every part If you can change the the LV X and livelier than an Ittok—
of the audioband picked up energy and but whose sound is still as musical and
life. The bass went from a puffy gener-
spark plugs on your as poised as those classic Linn arms.
alization to fast, vibrant, and succinctly 1958 MGA, you can set In addition to the LP12, I’ve used the
detailed. Rhythms became stronger up your LP12. M2-9 on my old Thorens TD 124 and
and better emphasized. Sparkling detail Technics SL-1200 Mk.2. On both of
appeared everywhere. With the Linn those ’tables, it made the high-compli-
LV X, the soundstage had been lit by a sium headshell and how easy it makes ance Soundsmith Carmen moving-iron
weak incandescent bulb; with the M2- the accurate adjustment of stylus rake cartridge sound more dynamic and
9, it was almost LED bright. Unques- angle and azimuth. transparent. It added sparkle, vivo, and
tionably, the stylus was now measuring Although this is difficult to verify, extra clarity to the sound of the Orto-
the grooves with greater precision. detachable headshells probably add a fon 2M Black. To my surprise, it made
The M2-9’s polished stainless-steel degree of hesitation and imprecision the low-compliance Zu Denon DL-103
armtube seemed unusually adept at to a record player’s sound. My wor- more detailed and less overstated.
transferring energy. It played easy and ried brain says, where a removable As Martin Colloms said of Linn’s
sensual. High frequencies were clear headshell is attached/detached must Ekos tonearm, the SME M2-9 was
and effectively resolved, if sometimes a be a soft, stretchy spot in the groove- “eager to communicate.”4 It is also an
tad overlit. Violins, flutes, saxophones, measuring system. My old SME 3009s exciting and reasonably priced option
and trumpets sounded impressively seemed slowed and dulled at the for the Linn Sondek LP12.
natural, with a relaxed lucidity. Bass frequency extremes; in contrast, the
response was evenly crisp and naturally M2-9 excels at the frequency extremes. Dynavector DV-20X2L
textured down to the lower limits of The precision of the new M2-9’s cou- moving-coil cartridge: $995
my speakers. pling of headshell to armtube seemed I was getting bored with my Ortofon
While the main sources of the to eliminate a significant amount 2M Black phono cartridge ($700). It
M2-9’s quality appear to be its of stretchiness. Simultaneously, the has excellent tone and a reasonable
high-specification bearings and rigid, M2-9’s combination of magnesium, amount of life and sparkle, but it won’t
properly damped armtube, many of damped stainless steel, brass, and tung- dance on the roadhouse bar or burn
the SME’s more subtle musical talents, sten seemed to subdue any obvious rubber in the parking lot. I wanted
such as bass microdetail and midrange tangs in the arm’s character. The result
4 Stereophile, March 1990, Vol.13 No.3: www.
transparency, must be attributed to its is a new, moderately priced tonearm stereophile.com/content/linn-ekos-tonearm-martin-
detachable, well-engineered magne- that, to my ears, is more precise than colloms-comments.
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
Clockwise from left: Dynavector DV-20X2L cartridge; the

more cold, candle-smoked air same company’s P75 Mk.3 phono stage; Pepe, the cuddly
between the choir and the ca- guardian eel; Wind Blown Grass Across the Moon; inside a
Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono stage.
thedral ceiling. I wanted a lively
moving-coil. The Vinyl Engine
and Linn forums both urged me: Almost instantly, the
“Herbie, get you the best Dynavector
you can afford.” Dynavectors, they told
DV-20X2L became my
me, can rob a liquor store and read the new budget reference
Holy Bible at the same time. Desper- phono cartridge.
ate, I called Mike Pranka at Dynavec-
tor USA. I told him I was poor, my
life sucked, I needed help. He was color, and a brilliantly lit openness
compassionate, and said he knew of a to every record and genre of music.
cure. He prescribed the DV-20X2L, a Almost instantly, it became
low-output (0.3mV), medium-high– my new budget reference
compliance MC. (This Dynavector phono cartridge.
is also available as the high-output
DV-20X2H.) It seemed the perfect Dynavector P75 Mk.3
antidote to the 2M Black blues. phono preamplifier: $895
The DV-20X2L’s threaded top I opened my door to see a
plate, parallel sides, and fully exposed dark-skinned stranger with
cantilever made it exceptionally easy to tattooed face. He handed
install and align. Its MicroRidge stylus me a black box topped by
was engineered to show me the wood a gilded image of a Maori
floors of roadhouse stages and the Koropepe (a mythical
hard walls of cathedrals. I loved it right guardian eel; see photo)
away—the DV-20X2L was everything and walked silently away. I
the 2M Black was not: fast, clear as wa- lifted the lid of the box. A
ter, and expressive, yet as intricate and red-orange glow emerged.
colorful as a Ukiyo-e woodblock print. I heard the sound of a
It showed me that floating, hedonistic didgeridoo. The letters D
world I yearned for. and V appeared from within. All of this they seemed brighter, more optimistic.
I collect LPs from Nonesuch’s occurred with the arrival of the Made The Allegro of the Grosse Fuge felt
Explorer Series, so to celebrate my in Australia Dynavector P75 Mk.3 brisker, more accessible. Contrasts
exciting new Made in Japan MC, phono preamplifier. of tempo and tonality were indeed
I listened to Ensemble Nipponia’s Struck mute, I went to my equip- “Enhanced.” The Quartet in F
Kabuki & Other Traditional Music (LP, ment rack, replaced the black monolith breathed a new spirit of cordiality.
Nonesuch H-72084). The DV-20X2L of Parasound’s Halo JC 3+ phono The John Curl-designed Halo JC 3+
reproduced tones and colors as crisp stage, and began playing Beethoven’s ($2999) is the best commercially
and saturated as those of a Hokusai deeply strange late string quartets: the available phono preamplifier I’ve
print. In Katsutoshi Nagasawa’s “Satto Grosse Fuge, Op.133, and Quartet 16 in used—period.5 It does RIAA equaliza-
(Wind Dance),” the drum sound was F, Op.135, performed by the Holly- tion and gain with a deeply quiet and
enormous and sensuously resolved. wood String Quartet (LP, Capitol profound certainty. Its adjustable load-
The shakuhachi (a Japanese flute) P8455). Moments before, these same ing lets every cartridge sound its best.
floated like a bird in the Edo sky. The recordings had sounded dark, danger- Currently, it is the axis mundi of my
DV-20X2L delivered frightened- ous, ragged, and difficult; the strange- reference system. With this Beethoven
minnow swiftness and tiger-like agility. ness of their art confounded me recording, the Halo JC 3+ revealed a
Midrange color and detail were rich (although the Halo JC 3+ let their direct connection between heaven and
and subtle, as in Hiroshige’s wood- mystifying beauty emerge from
block color print Wind Blown Grass ominous silence). Now, with the 5 The original Halo JC 3 was reviewed for Stereophile
by Michael Fremer, Brian Damkroger, and Robert J.
Across the Moon (see photo). The Dyna- Dynavector phono stage operating in Reina in 2011 and 2012; see www.stereophile.com/
vector brought vibrating life, painterly Phono Enhancer (current drive) mode, content/parasound-halo-jc-3-phono-preamplifier.

Spin Me Round
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• Low resonance chassis • TPE-damped counterweight

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• 10” S-shaped carbon fiber-aluminum-resin excellent coupling of record to platter
composite tonearm • Ships with Blue Point No. 2 cartridge
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GRAMOPHONE DREAMS
earth. It made the poetic is in perfect agreement

aspect of romantic suffer- with my own moody
ing something deep and purposes for studying the
tangible. contents of black discs in
In contrast, the P75 Mk.3 my home.
unabashedly enhanced Like the Linn LP12,
the already high levels of the combination of SME
excitement provided by the M2-9 tonearm with
Dynavector DV-20X2L Dynavector’s DV-20X2L
MC cartridge. With the cartridge, SUP-200
P75 Mk.3, the DV-20X2L step-up transformer, and
became fully alive. It P75 Mk.3 phono stage
danced! Forget the doom celebrates the spirit of
of romance and lovelorn whatever recording it
despair—the P75 Mk.3 took plays. It has extraordinary
me (and Herr Ludwig) sparkle and fantastic
from Johann Wolfgang von boogie. It boxes like a
Goethe to someplace a little middleweight champ. It
closer to Johann Strauss II. Switchless and Bible black: Best of all, the can soar. It plays big, fast, open, and
Dynavector’s SUP-200
phono transformer.
Dynavector combo of transparent, all in the least exagger-
Dynavector SUP-200 SUP-200 and P75 Mk.3 ated ways. Most important for me, this
step-up transformer: $2650 brought a tonal and Linn-SME-Dynavector experience is
Days later, a horrifying white-faced dynamic strength to the Dynavector musically compelling in a long-term
demon in a black hoodie approached DV-20X2L’s delivery of music: adding reference sort of way. Q
my door. While I ran and hid, she the Dynavector transformer put the Herb Reichert (STletters@sorc.com) lives
placed a shiny metal box on my performance of the P75 Mk.3 on a in a Bed-Stuy bothy dedicated to getting the
doorstep. When I was sure she’d gone, different but now equal level with the best from recorded music.
I emerged and picked up the box. It Parasound’s understated authority.
felt dense and heavy. On the front was I made these observations in the
printed “Dynavector Step Up Trans- context of a record-playing rig that CONTACTS
former SUP-200.” On the back were used the SME M2-9 tonearm and Linn
Linn Products Ltd.
two pairs of RCA jacks and a binding LP12 Valhalla turntable. This system
Floors Road, Waterfoot
post for a ground wire. This thing was fed Linear Tube Audio’s gloriously
Glasgow G76 0EP
unquestionably an omen. transparent microZOTL2.0, a 1Wpc
Scotland, UK
I re-arranged the internal jumpers integrated line and headphone ampli-
Tel: (44) 141-307-7777
of the Dynavector P75 Mk.3 phono fier designed by David Berning ($1100;
Web: www.linn.co.uk
stage to convert it from MC Phono see review elsewhere in this issue),
Enhancer mode to traditional (voltage- driving a PrimaLuna ProLogue Pre- Dynavector
drive) MM mode, with 40dB of gain. mium EL34 power amplifier ($2199). 3-2-7 Higashi-Kanda, Chiyoda-ku
(This took less than 10 minutes.) I then Think power, transparency, and unpre- Tokyo 101-0031, Japan
inserted the SUP-200 transformer tentious detail, with a just-right floral Tel: (81) (0)3-3861-4341
between the cartridge and the phono burst of saturated color. Think Bombay Fax: (81) (0)3-3862-1650
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TrueConfessions
WHY GOLDENEAR TECHNOLOGY’S SANDY GROSS ISN’T MAKING MOVIES
BY DAVID LANDER
his tale might have been scripted by Barry Levinson, the

Baltimore-bred filmmaker who has set four pictures in his
hometown, where much of the Sandy Gross story has also taken
place. The young Sanford Gross moved there to attend Johns
Hopkins University, and subsequently, in one of the city’s Civil
War–era houses, got Polk Audio rolling with fellow alumni
Matthew Polk and George Klopfer. The company flourished,
but Gross, who had minored in film at Hopkins, had an itch for
Hollywood. He moved to Los Angeles, only to find the movie business tinged
with illusion—much as Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett had portrayed it in
Sunset Boulevard, their merciless 1950 film noir. So Gross plotted a new scenario,
returned to Baltimore, and re-entered an industry committed to low distortion.
DAVID LANDER: You were a teenage entrepreneur. In high school, you were involved with
slot cars—miniature electric race cars that run on slotted tracks.
SANDY GROSS: Actually, very sophisticated miniature electric race cars. I was con-
sidered one of the top builders and racers. My friend Howie Ursaner and I were
hired by American Russkit. We helped them develop products and, as Team
Russkit East, represented them in major races, as well as visiting local raceways.
We were known as the Gold Dust Twins, and we’re still remembered in the
JOHN ATKINSON
slot-car world. Howie was an early investor in Polk.

DL: At Johns Hopkins, you started out in engineering.
SG: That choice was influenced by my slot-car experience, but engineering at

Hopkins was more like theoretical Advent, really got Polk going. Tell us how. musicians were performing.
physics, with a tremendous amount of SG: I loaded a pair into my 1967 Volvo DL: The Polk Monitor 10 was popular with
math. I was more interested in creat- station wagon, and drove around the audiophiles.
ing concepts and products. I switched country for four summers opening SG: Matt came up with the 10, a larger
majors, to social and behavioral science, up dealers. I used the Audio Research version of the 7, one summer when I
with a focus on creative writing. dealer list as a target, and went from was out on the road. There’s an inter-
DL: When did you get interested in music, town to town. Dealers along the way esting story about it. We were quite
and what did you listen to? were receptive, and would suggest friendly with Jon Dahlquist and his
SG: I was in school bands and orches- other dealers. Fairly early on at Polk partner, Saul Marantz. In fact, Saul was
tras in elementary, junior high, and we hired a national sales manager, but something of a mentor to me. One day,
high school, and grew up with the I still ran sales and marketing, and did I got a phone call from Saul. They had
music we played. When I was 10 or all Polk’s advertising in conjunction taken a two-room suite at the upcom-
12, I got my first little transistor radio, with a graphic artist—as at Definitive ing Washington Hi-Fi Show, and had
a Spica—I still have it, though it doesn’t and GoldenEar. Part of the success, I planned to show the [Dahlquist] DQ-6
work—and I listened to the New York feel, at all three companies, was a head in the second room. It never material-
Top 40 stations every night. I gradually of marketing and sales who had pretty ized, so Saul was wondering if we
moved into folk music, rock, and jazz. good product knowledge and defined would like to show with them. They
I was at Woodstock, and I saw most of the products to engineering. were quite a prestigious entity, and this
the signature acts over the years. Now I DL: You owned KLH Nines, which you’ve was an incredible opportunity, which
listen mainly to jazz. said influenced your designs. we graciously accepted. You could say
DL: When did you get interested in audio gear? SG: What I liked best about the KLH the Monitor 10 became what Dahlquist
SG: By the time I graduated from Nine was [its] very low coloration, su- had hoped the DQ-6 would be.
Hopkins, in 1972, I was a fanatical per imaging that makes the loudspeak- DL: What was the point of Polk’s Stereo
audiophile. All through my college ers seem to disappear, and the ability to Dimensional Array?
years, I bought and sold used audio make it seem like the musicians are in SG: The SDA concept was an attempt
gear. It was a tremendous time for that, the room—or that you are where the to minimize interaural crosstalk by
with people getting rid of classic tube means of a cancellation signal from a
gear they considered outdated: Marantz separate driver dedicated to this. The
9s, 7Cs, 8Bs; McIntosh 30s, 60s, 275s. WE WERE KNOWN result was vastly improved imaging—
I got together with Matt [Polk] and AS THE GOLD DUST bigger, more three-dimensional. SDA
George [Klopfer] after graduation, and TWINS, AND WE’RE was included in a range of models quite
we originally did sound reinforcement. STILL REMEMBERED different from any other speakers on
I was the mixer, and once had the IN THE SLOT-CAR the market.
pleasure of mixing the Duke Ellington WORLD. DL: There was also an RTA 12.
Orchestra, with Duke on piano. SG: The RTA 12, with its open-
DL: Polk started with one model, the mounted tweeter, was perhaps the
9, in 1972, when wannabe speaker best pure audiophile product in
manufacturers were everywhere. How the line. RTA stood for Real Time
did you get the attention of dealers? Array.
SG: The proliferation of speaker DL: Polk marketed a few audiophile
companies was a running joke, but products other than speakers, an under-
I suppose dealers appreciated my taking you championed.
enthusiasm. Initially, we took on a SG: It kind of let my audiophilia
rep firm for the New York metro run free. We marketed the For-
area, but I visited dealers with mula 4 fluid-damped unipivot
them. We soon parted company tonearm, very popular in its day,
with the reps in favor of dealing and attempted to market the Oa-
directly with dealers, something sis fluid-drive turntable. We had
I’ve continued to this day. I believe the first commercially successful
direct contact is important. purpose-designed speaker wire,
DL: How were Polk’s products con- originally called CobraCable, then
ceived? SoundCable. This was 144-strand
SG: Most of the product con- Litz wire, woven at right angles.
cepts were mine—as at Definitive Unfortunately, we were a little
[Technology] and GoldenEar early in the cable game, and many,
[Technology]. Basically, I provide including the high-end publica-
an elaborate napkin sketch, pretty tions, thought it was a farce.
detailed in terms of drivers, tech- DL: You left Polk in 1988. Why?
nologies, dimensions, and so forth. SG: I guess you could say it was
This then goes to engineering—at time, and I wanted to pursue
Polk, originally Matt. There was, another dream—making movies.
and is, a lot of back-and-forth. DL: How did you pursue it?
DL: The Monitor 7, a bookshelf speaker SG: I was involved in the film
designed to compete with the Large business for about two years. I got

a little house up Benedict Canyon—the I ONCE HAD THE that I wanted to use one, he rolled his
Spencer Tracy–Katharine Hepburn PLEASURE OF MIXING eyes and said, “Anything for market-
secluded love hideaway. I worked with THE DUKE ELLINGTON ing. We’ll see what we can do with it.”
Don Phillips, both of us as producers, ORCHESTRA, WITH Ultimately, he changed his tune and
and we had several projects in develop- DUKE ON PIANO. said, “I absolutely love this tweeter.” Al-
ment, as they say, including one with though we’ve seen the proliferation of
the working title Last Dance—a film many exotic cone materials, our group
about the great dancer Nijinsky and his SG: I really enjoyed working with my prefers classic polypropylene. So we
last performance, which would have old partners, and many of the team I set out designing drivers, electronics,
starred Mikhail Baryshnikov and Robin had hired and worked with for many etc., all in-house. And we got together
Wright. Nothing got made, as is typical years. In 2008, the upper management with a super industrial designer, Miles
in that business. of Polk all left. I left in 2009. Hammond. He’s young, talented, and
DL: Did you go to glamorous parties and DL: You considered retiring. Why didn’t you? has worked on products as diverse as
glitzy restaurants? SG: I was getting the itch to go back automobiles and surfboards. I provide
SG: I attended an interesting party to work. I successfully convinced Don him with a napkin sketch, and we work
given by Season Hubley, where I [Givogue] and my wife, Anne Con- together very closely as our designs
engaged Shelley Winters in a half-hour away, to come out of retirement. evolve. People ask me if the speakers
discussion of salsas. Then there was a DL: Before launching Definitive, you’d tried are narrow for good looks or good
weeklong trip to Paris—on my dime— to buy Dahlquist. At this point, you explored sound, and I answer, “Honestly, for
trying to raise funding. I had the treat an arrangement with Kathy Gornick, at both. Narrow speakers image better
of taking Leslie Caron to dinner. All Thiel Audio—Jim Thiel had recently died. and look better.”
in all, I was lucky to escape the movie SG: In the end, we decided to do DL: It’s generally agreed that the Tritons also
world before I was broke, as most of something from scratch. I remember perform better than comparably priced speak-
the players perennially are. bouncing my idea for the [GoldenEar ers. Will that continue?
DL: Don Givogue and Ed Blais, who first dis- Technology] Tritons off Don after visit- SG: I certainly hope it will continue!
tributed Polk in Canada, became your partners ing Thiel, and discussing our plans in DL: How have you managed to get such good
in your next venture, Definitive Technology. depth while we were cruising around, sound from them?
SG: We became partners, and were able looking at the beautiful horse farms SG: First, you have to know what good
to attain a higher-end position in the in Kentucky. We knew we had to is. Clearly, many loudspeakers sound
market than we had at Polk, as well as dramatically surpass anything we had good, but I’m always amazed at how
take a more serious approach to indus- previously done. We also knew the Tri- many very expensive loudspeakers do
trial design, especially with our Mythos tons had to be extraordinary for music not. In terms of the time spent in de-
products. Our first speaker was the BP and movies. Our speakers perform well velopment, and the attention to detail,
10, a narrow, bipolar tower with speak- with both, but all the development is we approach every speaker as though
ers front and rear. It was an attempt to done with music. we were designing a $50,000 one. Yes,
duplicate, in some ways, the radiation DL: The development is done by your time is money, but better to get it right.
patterns of planar speakers in order to engineering group in Canada. Say a bit about There are a thousand and one things in
achieve a more open, boxless sound. that. a loudspeaker that are important and
We followed up with a whole series of SG: Our engineering group uses contribute to the end result. The ma-
bipolar speakers, and in 1995 intro- rigorous measurements, and we have jority of these things do not cost more
duced the BP 2000, which I believe our own anechoic chamber, which is money—you just have to have the skill
was the first speaker on the market a duplicate of the famous one at the set and knowledge, and care enough to
with a built-in powered subwoofer. National Research Council, in Ottawa. give them the time they need.
Most people thought we were integrat- But they very much feel that science Then there are things that cost more.
ing a subwoofer for home theater, to just gets us into the ballpark—that the One area where we decided to splurge
eliminate separate sub boxes. In reality, real work begins with fine-tuning the was on our tweeters. Air Motion
we were engineering in a powered speaker voicing. Transformer tweeters cost eight times
low-frequency section that went deep DL: What determined your choice of drivers? as much as conventional domes, but
into the subbass, in order to better SG: Don and I had introduced the we think they’re worth it. Other things,
integrate it. To me, the most significant built-in powered-subwoofer concept like machining our cabinets out of giant
Definitive speaker, and the one I’m back in 1995, and we strongly believe it blocks of aluminum, we just can’t do,
most proud of, was the Mythos ST. allows much better integration with the though we can take the time, work-
DL: An extremely slim columnar model. rest of the system. Plus, we can achieve ing with an accelerometer, to properly
SG: We really let loose with the indus- really terrific bass with relatively small, brace and damp our cabinets in order
trial design, and returned to a direct- thin, elegant cabinets. In terms of the to minimize resonance.
radiating concept, which we felt could tweeter, domes were out, as they ring DL: Your audiophilia is obviously chronic.
achieve better, more precise imaging like bells and aren’t as good as a proper- Your personal systems include massive
with less room dependency than a bi- ly integrated AMT [Air Motion Trans- output-transformerless tube amps, a 150-lb
polar speaker. And we continued with former]. I had seen AMTs popping up turntable, a $50,000 pair of speakers as well
our built-in subwoofer idea. on some exotic European speakers, and as Triton Ones, and an abundance of other
DL: DEI Holdings acquired Definitive in thought it would be quite the ticket— exotic pieces.
2004, and then bought Polk. Since you’d superb performance from an easily SG: As for the turntable, vinyl still rules.
stayed on, you and your former colleagues were differentiated technology. When I told And a loudspeaker designer needs a
together again. Bob Johnston, our head of engineering, reference beyond his own products. Q

CS olin
Eine kleine Nachtmusik it ain’t.
tetson SORROW: A REIMAGINING OF
GÓRECKI’S 3RD SYMPHONY BY ROBERT BAIRD
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, by the music fans everywhere were left
And yet, in 1992, lightning struck, London Sinfonietta conducted by scratching their heads. And while
tectonic plates shifted, and the American maestro David Zin- author David Steinberg posed a
third symphony of Polish com- man, and featuring soprano soloist now infamous swipe, “is it being
poser Henryk Mikolaj Górecki Dawn Upshaw, eventually sold played as background music to
(1933–2010) became a bona-fide over a million copies, making it the Chardonnay and brie?”, a review of
PHOTOS: BRANTLEY GUTIERREZ
hit. Defying both skeptics and largest-selling recording of modern a recording of the symphony by the
logic, a recording of this decidedly classical music ever. Although Polish National Radio symphony
sepia-toned work, subtitled The shocked and gratified, classical- Orchestra, posted on Gramophone.

COLIN STETSON
com admitted, “For, no matter how we vocal lead is significantly different in

evaluate its worth or predict its place in color, timbre, and overall breadth. So
the ultimate scheme of things, the evi- that, I think, in itself warrants much
dence is conclusive: Gorecki’s Third has more: the use of different instru-
done more than any other large-scale ments and a bottom-heavy, texturally
contemporary work to stimulate inter- interesting, and maybe more extreme
est in modern music. Even Leonard arrangement.
Bernstein, genius that he undoubtedly “For me, as soon as I imagine one
was, failed to achieve a parallel success alteration—just like the example of
with any of his ‘serious’ works.” the change of the vocal quality—then
Despite these well-founded suspi- there’s a domino effect. So for me,
cions, the work has continued to be I’d always heard the initial entrance
popular, and has been used in many histories of the instruments he plays. as being this low woodwind, this solo
film soundtracks, inevitably to sug- For his Sorrow: A Reimagining of Górecki’s woodwind, this very intimate textural
gest sadness or tragedy. It appeared in 3rd Symphony, Stetson assembled a sound of the reeds, as being present
American director Terrence Malick’s diverse group of 12 musicians that there, and having the ensemble unfold
To the Wonder and Julian Schnabel’s included Arcade Fire’s violinist, Sarah from that, growing out of that texture
Basquiat, to name just two. Its influ- Neufeld, and his sister Megan as vocal- rather than the bass section of an
ence has even trickled into rock, via ist. A smaller group had performed the orchestra. So it’s completely texturally
bands Lamb and Faust. Now Górecki’s first movement a couple of years ago, and timbrally different in terms of that
Symphony 3 has been “reimagined,” at the Ecstatic Music Festival, in New being the basis for the first movement.
as Sorrow, by one of the most inventive York City. After tweaking the arrange- As soon as you make that change, then
and unclassifiable multi-instrumental- ment and the ensemble, Stetson and his for me, I could kind of linearly think it
ists playing today: saxophonist Colin 12-piece group first performed Sorrow through as far as what would happen
Stetson. in its entirety last May, in Germany. and where I wanted everything to
“I think I first heard it in ’94, and it The Symphony of Sorrowful Songs is a change, texturally.
wasn’t long, within two years or so, that minimalist work: a short conglomera- “The first version of this symphony,
I really had this concept that I wanted tion of minor-key laments based on the actual intended version of this
to present another arrangement of it— melodic repetition in three move- symphony, relies almost entirely on the
at least in terms of a performance,” said ments, built around a trio of vignettes strings of an orchestra. And so you had
the Michigan native when I reached that focus on loss, particularly that this very homogenous string sound,
him over a weekend in Vermont. “So of mothers losing sons. The first and which is beautiful, and becomes this
I’d made plans with my sister back longest movement, Lento—Sostenuto unified front—and once you change
then, like ’96 –’97, to do that. Then, be- tranquillo ma cantabile, is based on a that and you start to have very, very
cause of other gigs, life, whatever, it just Silesian folk song. The second move- different instruments in regards to tone
kind of took a permanent back burner ment, Lento e largo—Tranquillissimo, was and timbre, then this thing can have
to everything else. But all the circum- inspired by a message scrawled on the many, many faces, and those faces can
stances kind of came together perfectly wall of a Nazi prison by an 18-year- all start to interact—and throughout
in the past few years to kind of bring old female prisoner, who admonished that first movement, especially, I found
it up, to give me a window of time her mother not to mourn her passing. it really exciting to play with that.”
to deal with it, to give me the perfect The final movement, Lento—Cantabile The most audible difference
ensembles to make it a reality.” Semplice, is based on the story of Mary between Stetson’s reimagining and
A sideman in demand, Stetson tours and Jesus. Górecki’s original conception is the
with Arcade Fire and Bon Iver, and A secular work that sounds religious addition of drums, played by Greg
has played on innumerable record- and has much in common with the Fox, the drummer of Liturgy, an
ings by such artists as Tom Waits, The work of other so-called “holy minimal- American black-metal band. Black
National, My Brightest Diamond, ist” composers from Eastern Europe, metal—a raw, lo-fi style of metal music
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and such as the Estonian Arvo Pärt, that originated mostly in Norway and
David Byrne. While he plays a number Górecki’s Symphony 3 is primarily Sweden—relies on distorted guitars,
of instruments—including clarinet, bass scored for strings—16 first violins, 16 howling vocals, and superfast drum-
clarinet, flute, and French horn—he second violins, 12 violas, 12 cellos, and ming. Black-metal performers often
is most famous for playing the rarely 8 double basses—and solo voice. Bas- paint their faces in black-and-white
heard bass and contrabass saxophones. soons, contrabassoons, and trombones corpse makeup, and the music and its
These are huge, heavy instruments—the appear only in the first movement, practitioners have a dark history of sui-
contrabass stands more than 6' tall and and then for only a few bars. Stetson’s cides, homicides, and arson attacks on
weighs nearly 50 lbs. Stetson’s three version is weightier and darker, with a Christian churches. Wait—a black-met-
undefinable solo albums, New History portentousness the original lacks. al drummer in a classical symphony?
Warfare Vols. 1 through 3, on adventur- “The idea of bringing in a synth- “All of the changes I made to this, I
ous indie label Constellation Records, heavy, guitar-heavy, and, of course, really didn’t change notation,” Stetson
mix jazz, classical, and noise rock in sax-, clarinet-, woodwind-heavy told me. “And I really changed very
wondrous, daunting ways. The range of arrangement of this, is changing it little in terms of arrangement. I really
sounds and textures Stetson gets—from considerably,” Stetson admitted. “The was trying to examine the piece, get
microtones and altissimo to down-and- big thing, by having a mezzo-soprano down to the bedrock emotionality of
out skronking—is unparalleled in the sing the lead instead of a soprano, the any given moment or movement, and

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COLIN STETSON
then to . . . I put it this way lar hit—is a pretty ballsy

once, and it still seems like proposition. Where does
the correct way to say it, Stetson find his moxie?
examining the brushstrokes “Honestly—and this is
that were already there and gonna betray some basic
trying to extend out ignorances on my part—
further in those directions. but in the ’90s, especially,
“With regard to the and actually until quite
drums, in the first move- recently, I was unaware
ment, the instrumentation of the extent of that
is a round. It gets harmoni- particular recording’s suc-
cally more complex, me- cess. I mean, I know that
lodically more complex. As the piece was very well
more voices enter, it really known, but I just didn’t
is this saturated, beautiful pay attention enough to
space, and I imagined just the public success of that
furthering that in terms to have had that inform
of texture, timbre, and my decisions or anything.
intensity. And the drums At the time that I started
in particular: blast beats—as getting to work on this,
they are utilized in black if I had been think-
metal, and in particular ing about it the whole
Greg Fox and the way he time as ‘This is the most
utilized them—just seemed famous classical piece in
the perfect extension of all the 20th century,’ would
of what was already there. that have changed my
“Someone asked me . . . ? I don’t know. For
about the black-metal me, I really just don’t . . .
drums recently: How do honestly, I don’t see this
you make the jump? But version as being acces-
for me, there’s no jump. sible in the same way as
Much of black metal came from being SO IT’S COMPLETELY the first was. The first is the piece. That
influenced by 20th-century classical TEXTURALLY AND is the arrangement of this piece, that’s
musics, and so that’s already present in TIMBRALLY DIFFERENT as he intended it to be.
that music. Bringing it full circle into IN TERMS OF THAT “I think that this one—my version—
this doesn’t seem like that much of a BEING THE BASIS FOR is going to be definitely more of an
leap to me.” THE FIRST MOVEMENT. acquired taste. In that, I think that ev-
Stetson’s past recordings have all erything that I do kind of is. I deal with
been of audiophile quality, and Sorrow some basic extremes in sonic structures
is no exception. Other than a few all live with the group, but we had to and sonic spaces, and I imagine that
passes on sax that Stetson added to get a space that could provide that. it’s not going to that ubiquitous that
the second and third movements, and Electric bassist Shahzad Ismaily, who there would be that many people who
a few more violin passes for Neufeld is on the recording [and is a member would want to follow along with my
that he added to “get more of a section of Marc Ribot’s Ceramic Dog], had particular vision on this. But that’s
identity,” the record was all recorded just opened up a space in Brooklyn, never been my intention or desire, to
live in the studio, without overdubs. in Prospect Heights, called Figure 8 kind of try and do this for any sort of
Throughout the entire course of Studios. It’s a somewhat narrow build- mass appeal.
Sorrow, Megan Stetson was able to ing, but they have two floors that are “I know this will be a terrible sound
record her vocal parts with virtually no entirely finished, and the kicker was, bite, but [the original version] is not
editing. they were just putting in their entirely a challenging piece of music. It is
“The process was really interest- wired video system. They also have a sonorous, it is beautiful, it is tragic, it
ing, and it took a little bit of thought. great headphone system. So we had 12 is all these things. It is so poignant and
We were initially going to do it up in people populating two different floors. perfect—[it] perfectly straddles that rare
a studio in Montreal, and I was little So we had near complete isolation. emotion that is kind of like the uplift
bit worried about having such a large There’s just a little bit of bleed from of ultimate sadness. That freeing place
group, and also such a large group full string to string, or from sax to sax, on a when you can really touch the most
of disparately volumed instruments ... couple things, but we were all able to terrible. It is all those things, but it is
because of bleed. With everything I be present sonically and visually. I was not a challenge to listen to, so that’s
do, I try to get a clean, simultaneous able to conduct the group from where what makes it remarkable. It is very,
recording. In all my solo things, I like I was sitting by myself.” very difficult to do any one of those
to get isolation of different sounds Rearranging, reimagining, and/or things that I just rattled off, let alone all
and feeds, but I don’t want to have to getting additive with an established of them at the same time and have it
resort to overdubbing to get a clean symphony—particularly one that is that be something that is entirely accessible.
performances. So I wanted to do it rarest of birds in classical music, a popu- That is a feat.” Q

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KALMAN RUBINSON
Bowers & Wilkins

802 D3 Diamond
LOUDSPEAKER
This is getting to be a habit.” that B&W developed over the last 8 years, intended to
That’s how I ended the first paragraph of perform like Kevlar in reducing the magnitude and duration
my review of Bowers & Wilkins’ 800 Dia- of cone breakup—but to much higher degrees.
mond speaker,1 in the May 2011 issue; appar- The diaphragms of the 802 D3’s woofers are also of new
ently, Stereophile’s habit of reviewing models design and material. Although similar in appearance to the
from B&W’s 800 series remains unbroken. older Rohacel laminate cones, albeit with smaller dustcaps,
Later in that review, I said that “The 800 Diamond the new diaphragm has a foam core of varying thickness:
doesn’t look radically different from its predecessors.” That thinner at the central voice-coil, thickening with increas-
doesn’t apply to the 802 D3 Diamond ($22,000/pair). It’s ing radius, then thinning again as it nears the surround.
still a three-way system with tapered-tube high-frequency B&W calls this shape Aerofoil, and claims that it combines
and midrange enclosures, stacked and nestled into a gener- maximal stiffness with minimal mass. When I tapped and
ous bass enclosure that’s vented on the bottom into the scratched it, the 8" Aerofoil cones sounded considerably
space between it and its plinth. But other than that, the more dead, and felt more compliantly mounted, than the
802 D3 radically differs from the previous generation: only 800 Diamond’s two 10" Rohacel cones.
eight components are retained. Four of those are the bind- The 802 D3’s woofers protrude from their enclosure
ing posts, another is the diamond-dome tweeter, and the because the front of the latter is curved—a reverse of the de-
remaining three are trivial. According to Martial Rousseau, sign of earlier 800s, which had flat fronts and curved rears.
B&W’s head of research, “This is not a product update. This The change was made to enhance cabinet stiffness where
is a completely reimagined entity.” it counts, and to minimize edge diffraction, though I won-
der if the latter is significant at the frequencies involved.
Description Nonetheless, one consequence of the curved front is that
When I set-up the 802 D3s, the first thing that struck me the woofers can’t be mounted directly to it; instead, they’re
was that they were taller than the 800 Diamonds. That, attached to metal cylinders that emerge from the front.
coupled with the change from a boxy support plinth (which These cylinders are rigidly secured to an enclosure made
also housed the crossover) to a flat, 1"-thick aluminum with the latest version of B&W’s Matrix, now made from
plinth, suggests that the bass enclosure is of significantly plywood and aluminum and pressure-fitted to the main
greater volume. Indeed, the 802 D3 weighs only 17 lbs less body for enhanced structural rigidity. A concomitant conse-
than its older and broader brother. Another striking change quence of the new shape is that the rear of the 802 D3 is a
in appearance is the 802 D3’s silvery Continuum midrange single, massive aluminum heatsink that runs, like a keel, the
cone, which replaces the iconic yellow Kevlar of the 800
Diamond’s cone. Continuum is a coated, woven material 1 See www.stereophile.com/content/bampw-800-diamond-loudspeaker.
SPECIFICATIONS
Description Three-way 90dB/2.83V/m. Harmonic H by 15.2" (390mm) W by West Sussex BN11 2BH,
vented-box loudspeaker. distortion (second and 22.7" (583mm) D. Weight: England, UK.
Drive-units: 1" (25mm) third harmonics, 90dB, 1m): 207.9 lbs (94.5kg). Tel: (44) 0800-232-1513.
diamond-dome tweeter, 6" <1%, 80Hz–20kHz; <0.3%, Finish Gloss Black, Rosenut. Web: www.bowers-wilkins.
(150mm) Continuum-cone 100Hz–20kHz. Impedance: Serial numbers of units co.uk.
FST midrange driver, two 8 ohms nominal, 3.0 ohms reviewed 000685, 000686. US: B&W Group North
8" (200mm) Aerofoil- minimum. Recommended Price $22,000/pair. Ap- America, 54 Concord Street,
cone woofers. Crossover amplification: 50–500W proximate number of North Reading, MA 01864.
frequencies: 350Hz, 4kHz. into 8 ohms on unclipped dealers: 300. Warranty: 5 Tel: (978) 664-2870.
Frequency range: 14Hz– program. Maximum recom- years, repair or replacement, Fax: (978) 664-4109.
35kHz. Frequency response mended cable impedance: nontransferable. Web: www.bowers-wilkins.
ERIC SWANSON
on reference axis: 17Hz– 0.1 ohm. Manufacturer B&W Group com.

28kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: Dimensions 47.3" (1212mm) Ltd., Dale Road, Worthing,

The 802 D3
radically differs:
only eight compo-
nents are retained.

The next classic.
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transparency, powerful dynamics and remarkably deep bass extension make the X18 ideal for
ZTHSS[VTLKP\TZPaLKYVVTZHUKZPTWS`VULVM[OLÄULZ[JVTWHJ[SV\KZWLHRLYZ+ÙH\KPVOHZ
ever developed.
The new Excite X18.

BOWERS & WILKINS 802 D3 DIAMOND
cabinet’s entire height. The crossover my 800 Diamonds sat right next to
network is mounted on the inside of the 802 D3s, and I wondered if the
this heatsink, the four binding posts striking (!) difference would still be
on the outside, at the bottom, and audible when the housings were fitted
the top is milled out to accommodate with drivers and securely mounted
the rear of the loudspeaker’s Turbine in finished speakers. As expected, the
Head: the vaguely oil-drop-shaped differences were small, but responses
structure that houses the midrange from the D3’s driver rims were higher
driver and supports the tweeter. in pitch, and definitely less lively. (For
The tweeter and midrange enclo- additional technical and philosophi-
sures are completely re-engineered cal issues, see the sidebar, “The Great
and, while the midrange enclosure Unveiling.”)
was previously made from Marlan The overall appearance of the
composite, both are now machined 802 D3 is more streamlined and less
from solid aluminum. An ancil- plush than earlier 800 models. The
lary benefit of the tweeter-housing review samples, finished in Gloss
redesign is that it can be more easily Black (Rosenut is also available), came
removed and replaced if the Diamond with black grilles for the midrange
tweeter is damaged. Of course, it’s and woofers, but I preferred using
also less likely to be damaged in the only the midrange grille, perhaps
first place: the 802 D3’s protective only until I adapt to the change in
tweeter cover is now fixed, to prevent diaphragm color from yellow to silver.
any untoward contact with the dome. On the other hand, the vertical array
Also reengineered are the metal of exposed woofers and the mid-
frames of the midrange and bass driv- range and tweeter modules formed
ers, to increase stiffness and reduce a visual motif reminiscent of the
resonances. At public demonstrations, original Nautilus, while the racetrack-
B&W illustrates the effectiveness of shaped woofer grille looked ungainly.
their new design by suspending from The 800 Diamond’s Turbine Head
cables “empty” samples of the new
and old tweeter housings and mid-
range baskets and inviting attendees 800-series styling
to strike them. The old ones sound has moved from the
brightly musical, like bells or trian-
gles; the new ones respond with a dull Elizabethan to the
clunk. Here in my listening room, Edwardian age.
MEASUREMENTS
I
used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system 3, reviewed elsewhere in this issue, (dotted trace). The magnitude drops to
and a calibrated DPA 4006 the 802 D3 was too bulky to be lifted 3 ohms between 100 and 130Hz, and
microphone to measure the Bow- off the ground. The earlier-than-usual again between 670 and 770Hz; and
ers & Wilkins 802 D3 Diamond’s reflections of the drive-units’ output while the electrical phase angle is low
frequency response in the farfield; I from the ground thus compromised in the lower region, it becomes increas-
used an Earthworks QTC-40 for the the measurements’ resolution in the ingly inductive above 600Hz, reaching
nearfield frequency responses. (For midrange. The loudspeaker was also +46° at 1kHz, where the magnitude is 4
logistical reasons, I measured a dif- too heavy for me to lift it onto my Out- ohms. There is also a combination of 4
ferent sample from those auditioned line computer-controlled turntable, so ohms and –64° at 69Hz, implying that
by KR.) As with the Marten Coltrane I had to examine its off-axis behavior this speaker does require an amplifier
by manually rotating the loudspeaker that is not upset by a low effective
Stereophile B&W 802D Impedance (ohms) & Phase (deg) vs Frequency (Hz)
on its casters and checking the angle impedance.
with a protractor, a time-consuming My accelerometer was out of action
procedure. when I had the B&W speaker in-house
B&W specifies the 802 D3’s sen- for measurement. However, listen-
sitivity on the tweeter axis as a high ing to the woofer enclosure with a
90dB/2.83V/m. My estimate was a stethoscope while I drove the 802 D3
little higher, at 91dB(B)/2.83V/m. This with a sinewave generator revealed the
speaker will play loud for very little presence of low-level modes at 380
input voltage! However, it is a relatively and 415Hz.
demanding load for an amplifier to The saddle centered on 20Hz in the
Fig.1 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, electrical impedance drive. Fig.1 shows the B&W’s electrical impedance-magnitude trace suggests
(solid) and phase (dashed) (2 ohms/vertical div.). impedance (solid trace) and phase that this is the tuning frequency of the

was embedded in the bass enclosure and D3’s plinth—I had painful memories of
embraced by a ruff of Connolly leather; the stubbing my bare toes on the sharp edges
802 D3’s Head is nestled into a shallower of the 800 Diamond’s boxy base—but the
saddle on the bass enclosure, isolated from new plinth also made balancing and tilt-
it by hidden compliances. By fanciful anal- ing the enclosure much easier than with
ogy, 800-series styling has moved from the
Elizabethan to the Edwardian age. Continuum is a coated,
Installation and setup woven material that
I placed the 802 D3s where most speakers B&W developed over
have sounded best in my room: about 11'
from my main listening seat, which is just a the last 8 years.
bit more than the 9' 10" that B&W says is
typically required for proper integration of any earlier 800 model.
the drivers’ outputs.2 I adjusted the toe-in by After connecting the 802 D3s to my
ear—it seemed ideal when the tweeter axes Theta Digital Dreadnaught D power
crossed about 18" behind my head. amplifier with AudioQuest Oak biwire
Because the 47" height of the 802 D3’s cables, I fine-tuned the B&Ws’ final posi-
tweeter is so much greater than the 36" dis- tions by ear with familiar recordings.
tance between my ears and the floor when
I’m seated, I tilted the loudspeakers forward: Listening
When first unpacked, the 802 D3 sits on Although my usual protocol is to do
four generously sized rollers, but adjustable no critical listening for a few weeks, I
spikes are already in place on the underside was able to get down to it very quickly:
of the plinth. An ingenious mechanism my sample had been shipped not from
allows the user to simply reach underneath, B&W’s factory but from their design,
flip a lever, and rotate the spike until it hits
the floor (or one of the substantial, floor- 2 The info from B&W states: “Ideally you should be
protecting footers, also provided). Repeat seated with your ear level at the tweeter height plane
(broadly speaking). Distance to the speaker: roughly 2.5
for the other three spikes, then adjust each times the tweeter height (measured from the floor) to
to horizontally level the speaker and achieve the ear as a minimum distance. So on an 802 D3 the
tweeter height is roughly 120cm to the centre of the
the necessary degree of tilt. I already loved diaphragm to the floor. Multiply by 2.5 and you get
the smoothly rounded shape of the 802 300cm or 3m (9ft 10in).”
measurements, continued
large, flared port that fires downward this resonance does result in a small the farfield response across a 30° hori-
from the woofer enclosure. This was discontinuity in the woofers’ nearfield zontal window centered on the tweeter
confirmed by the fact that the summed response, the fact that the port faces axis (fig.3). The 802 D3’s midrange and
output of the two woofers (fig.2, blue the floor should minimize its audible bass output is smooth and even, and the
trace) has the expected minimum-mo- consequences. slight boost in the mid- and upper bass
tion notch at this frequency. (The two The woofers are crossed over to the is entirely an artifact of the nearfield
woofers offered identical measured midrange unit (fig.2, green trace) at measurement technique. As KR found,
responses.) The port’s output (red around 500Hz, with steep filter slopes. the 802 D3’s low-frequency alignment
trace) peaks between 10 and 40Hz, The tweeter’s output in this graph ap- is free from underdamped boom.
but has a significant peak at 248Hz in pears to be balanced a little too high in The plot of the B&W’s lateral disper-
its upper-frequency output. Though level, which persisted when I averaged sion (fig.4) reveals that the tweeter
becomes more directional than is usual
in the top octaves, which in a typical
Amplitude in dB
Amplitude in dB
Frequency in Hz Frequency in Hz
Fig.2 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, acoustic crossover on Fig.3 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, anechoic response Fig.4 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, lateral response
tweeter axis at 50", corrected for microphone re- averaged across 30° horizontal window on tweeter family at 50", normalized to response on tweeter
sponse, with nearfield responses of midrange unit axis at 50", corrected for microphone response, axis, from back to front: differences in response
(green), woofers (blue), and port (red), respec- with complex sum of midrange, woofer, and port 90–5° off axis, reference response, differences in
tively plotted below 500Hz, 350Hz, and 650Hz. responses plotted below 300Hz. response 5–90° off axis.

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research, and listening facility in Steyning, West Sussex. For

all I know, they’re the pair I auditioned when I visited last A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
August (see sidebar).
At Steyning, the first thing I’d noticed about the 802 D3s Digital Sources Oppo Digital BDP-105 universal BD player;
was that their soundstage was more open and detailed than Baetis XR3 PC-based music server; exaSound e28, Merg-
that of the 802 Diamonds. But here in my Manhattan sys- ing Technologies NADAC-8 multichannel D/A processors;
tem, what first struck me was the greater definition I heard QNAP TS569L NAS.
with familiar bass lines. I briefly entertained the thought that Preamplifiers Audio Research MP1, Parasound Halo P 7.
both perceptions might be due to a shift in balance caused Power Amplifiers McIntosh Laboratories MC303, Para-
by tighter, lighter reproduction of the bass—but no, the low sound Halo A 31, Theta Digital Dreadnaught D.
frequencies were just as potent and extended as before. Loudspeakers Bowers & Wilkins 800 Diamond.
Something else was afoot. Cables Digital: AudioQuest Vodka (HDMI) & Carbon
The 802 D3’s Diamond tweeter has (USB). Analog Interconnects: AudioQuest Earth/DBS
the same diaphragm as before—but, as With the balanced, Kubala-Sosna Anticipation (RCA, XLR). Speaker:
mentioned earlier, it has a new housing AudioQuest Oak/DBS biwire. AC: AudioQuest NRG-10,
and fixed protective cover. Whatever 802 D3, JPS Aluminata, Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
the reason, the new speaker’s treble Bowers & Accessories Environmental Potentials EP-2450 power
range sounded distinctly more delicate conditioner, CyberPower 850PFCLCD AC filter (supplied
than that of its predecessor. I first heard Wilkins with Baetis server).
this with the classic Oscar Peterson Meets have Listening Room 24' L by 14' W by 8' H, with two MSR
Roy Hargrove and Ralph Moore (CD, Te- brought Acoustics Dimension4 SpringTraps in front corners, two
larc CD-83399). In the past, my atten- Ready Acoustics Chameleon Super Sub Bass Traps at
tion had been drawn to Lewis Nash’s their 800 sides, and moderately sound-absorbing furniture. Front
cymbal accents, often at the expense series into wall has large windows partly covered by fabric drapes and
of the melody in Peterson’s piano. In 4' by 2' by 3" OC 705 panels. Rear of room opens into 10'
fact, I liked it. With the D3, the cymbal the 21st by 7’ foyer and 12’ by 8’ dining area.—Kalman Rubinson
was still as spicy, but in better balance century.
with the piano. The same improvement
occurred with higher-resolution recordings, such as Tarik what seemed a perfectly natural degree of sibilance, defined
O’Regan’s Threshold of Night, with Craig Hella Johnson con- but not outlined.
ducting Conspirare and the Company of Voices, recorded The midrange, too, was highly refined. Clearly, B&W’s
in the famous Troy Savings Bank Music Hall (SACD/CD, designs of the slightly smaller (150 vs 160mm) Continuum
Harmonia Mundi HMU 807490). Individual voices had diaphragm and concomitantly smaller (but more rigid)
room will work against the excess on- region develops immediately above the lower in frequency. However, the out-
axis energy in the same region. But the tweeter axis. Below that axis, which is a put of the tweeter is very slightly too
output of the large-diameter midrange high 47” from the floor, the mid-treble forward in time, which suggests that
unit does drop off at the top of its pass- region becomes a little boosted com- the B&W’s optimal listening axis will
band more than 45° to the speaker’s pared with the region below. be a little below the tweeter axis. The
sides, which might make it sound a Turning to the time domain, the 802 cumulative spectral-decay plot on the
little polite. At more moderate off-axis D3’s step response on the tweeter axis tweeter axis (fig.7) reveals a generally
angles, the contour lines in this graph (fig.6) indicates that all four drive-units clean initial decay.
are smooth and evenly spaced, which are connected with positive acoustic Overall, the Bowers & Wilkins 802
always correlates with precise, stable polarity, and that, in general, the decay D3 Diamond measures very well. I’m
stereo imaging. In the vertical plane of each unit’s step blends smoothly not surprised that Kal Rubinson liked it
(fig.5), a suckout in the upper crossover with the start of that of the next unit as much as he did.—John Atkinson
Data in Volts
Time in ms
Fig.5 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, vertical response Fig.7 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, cumulative spectral-
family at 50", normalized to response on tweeter Fig.6 B&W 802 D3 Diamond, step response on decay plot on midrange axis at 50" (0.15ms
axis, from back to front: differences in response tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time window, 30kHz risetime).
15–5° above axis, reference response, differences in bandwidth).
response 5–10° below axis.

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Turbine enclosure represent not a philosophical but an Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonatas, played by Thomas Murray
evolutionary shift. It might account for what I heard as an on the wonderful E. & G.G. Hook instrument in Jamaica
extension of the Diamond tweeter’s delicacy in delineating Plain, Boston (CD, Raven OAR-390). In the fourth move-
the sounds of consonants in vocal music. I easily appreciated ment of the Sonata in f, I could follow the pedal notes, low
this throughout the O’Regan disc—voices floated free in the as they are, as clearly as if they were played on a piano. (This
hall’s acoustic—but it became my focal point when listening CD derives from the original Sheffield Records S-13, a
to my go-to vocal track, Finzi’s “Come Away, Death,” sung remarkable LP produced in 1973 by Lincoln Mayorga.)
by mezzo-soprano Marianne Beate Kielland, accompanied But much more important than the speaker’s reproduc-
by pianist Sergei Osadchuk (free stereo 24-bit/192kHz tion of any part of the audioband was a degree of driver-
PCM download or SACD/CD, 2L 2L-064-SACD). This output integration that let the 802 D3 perform as a single
may not be the best recording ever made of solo female sound source, to a degree not before achieved by B&W or,
voice and piano, but my familiarity with it makes it a critical indeed, by many speaker makers. At my normal listening
tool. Through the 802 D3s, Kielland’s voice was as lovely as distance, mono sounds played by a single 802 D3 seemed to
ever, but the D3s conveyed more of its physical presence. emanate from the Continuum midrange driver; listening in
Probably the most satisfying thing about the 802 D3 was stereo to both speakers, the deep, wide soundstage spanned
its agility in the bass, which I think accounted for my initial my room, the sound quite independent of the two cabinets—
responses at Steyning and at home. This is not one of those and often tricking me into thinking that my 800 Diamond
large speakers for which “authority” is a euphemism for an center-channel speaker was hooked up. (It wasn’t.)
overripe midbass that obscures bottom-end nuances. The “Nobody,” from Ry Cooder’s delightful Jazz (CD, Reprise
802 D3’s authority was more tight, powerful, and extended 27355-2), demonstrated most of the features that made the
than I expected. Firm bass-drum thwacks cleanly revealed 802 D3 so satisfying. This recording doesn’t possess extreme
the initial stroke as well as the ensuing resonance. I could dynamics or really deep bass, but I thoroughly appreciated
pick any of my favorite orchestral recordings from Telarc the clarity of Cooder’s solo voice and guitar, the air and bal-
or Reference and rediscover how good they are. Even more ance of the band, driven by tuba and bass drum, and, most
impressive were good recordings of pipe organ, such as of all, the presence and weight of the male backing singers,
THE GREAT UNVEILING production of the first major revision larger and smaller models; and by evolu-
of the 800 models since 2005, timed tion, with the Matrix (1987) and, later,
In August 2015, I visited Bowers & to coincide with the company’s 50th Nautilus (1998) lines. Beginning with
Wilkins in England. It was an excit- anniversary, in 2016. I clearly recalled the original three-way, three-box design,
ing prospect to see the factory, and the impact of the original 801, in 1979. features were retained and added, and
meet the people who designed and With its individual enclosures for the some became emblematic of the 800s:
built the speakers I’ve been using for bass, midrange, and high-frequency a curved main cabinet of multilaminate,
years. Of course, as the time of my visit drivers, it was not only a great-sounding Matrix cross-bracing inside, the use of
approached, it was impossible not to speaker but, more significant, the first nonresonant materials for the midrange
speculate that something important truly full-range, bullet-proof speaker of and tweeter housings, a Kevlar mid-
was afoot—there was growing Internet domestically acceptable size. At that
buzz that it was time for B&W to update time, all the other big speakers were
its 800-series speakers. Nonetheless, really big. Most of them, from Altec, JBL,
B&W remained tight-lipped. and Tannoy, were derived from profes-
I arrived in Brighton in the morning sional/studio designs: even B&W’s own
and took the afternoon to tour the town. landmark DM70, with its panoramic
I hadn’t been there in over 40 years, and electrostatic tweeter and 15” woofer,
barely recognized it. I’d remembered a was difficult to fit into a home listening
bright, busy sand-and-sailing town, but room. In a sense, the 801 was the first
Brighton is now deep in the throes of uncompromised domestic loudspeaker.
urban renewal, with construction and re- Since then, the 800 series has grown:
construction sites on nearly every block. by expansion, with the additions of
There was a sense of optimism
in all the activity. At dinner that
evening, optimism also brimmed
in Doug Henderson, president of
B&W Group North America.
Henderson told me that the
reason for my visit was, indeed,
to see firsthand what was go-
ing into the development and
Clockwise from left: Handspraying

and inspecting tweeter housings;
forming the multilaminate cured
cabinet; the cabinet form is set under
heat and pressure.

especially in the final chorus. The 802 lack of authority when that was called
D3s made it all sound fresh and new. for, and the speaker’s reproduction
Live recordings were transport- of deep bass was formidable.
ing. Eric Clapton’s Unplugged However, some listeners may
(CD, Reprise 45024-2) took find fault with that new balance
on a new electricity due to the because it might not suit the
immediacy of his voice and sound of their system and room,
guitar, the natural impact of the or their taste. Further, the 802 D3
bass, the environmental noises, and easily revealed differences among other
the sheer hugeness of the recording space. components. Of the amps I had on hand, I
Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony liked Theta’s Dreadnaught D—it seemed most
Orchestra’s recent live recording of the Sibe- consistent with the D3’s balance of clarity and
lius Symphony 2 (BSO Classics 1401, 24/96 power. Parasound’s Halo A31 three-channel
FLAC download) put me only a few rows back amp leaned a bit toward the clarity, McIntosh’s
from the stage of Boston’s Symphony Hall, from The 802 D3’s Continuum- MC-303 leaned toward the power.
which vantage I could pick out individual instru- cone midrange driver.
ments and hear pizzicato notes from the violins Conclusions
amid the orchestral swell. More important, I felt part of the With the 802 D3, I think Bowers & Wilkins have brought
performing space in a way surpassed by only the multichan- their 800 series into the 21st century. Their commitment
nel download. to completely reimagine, reengineer, and redesign the 800
Was the 802 D3 faultless? Yes and no. I heard no series has resulted in a loudspeaker that carries on the family
problems with it in my room and system. Its tonal balance resemblance while being entirely new. This an impressively
was somewhat lighter than many, including the 802 D3’s better loudspeaker in every way. Those who loved the
800-series predecessors, because the bass was entirely devoid earlier 800s, as I did, will want to hear it. Those who didn’t
of bloat or emphasis or resonance. Despite this, there was no are advised to. Q
range diaphragm with a free-suspension tude of the real-world effects until the Ford why they couldn’t just mount these
termination, a diamond-dome tweeter, animated models bent and twisted like units so that their blemishes were hid-
a stiff composite woofer cone, and, small buildings and bridges subjected to den underneath, and I wondered how big
especially, the Marlan midrange head hurricane-force winds. a flaw had to be for a part to be rejected.
and tweeter tube inspired by the classic In short, a busy morning. That after- His responses were swift and clear: No,
Nautilus (1993), which has remained the noon, I stretched my legs with a tour he replied, they wouldn’t use the part,
flagship of the line. of the factory. Again, B&W’s website and they had no defined criterion for
The next morning, at B&W’s Visitors’ boasts many illustrations and videos of rejection. Any noticeable imperfection,
Center, I was given an overview of the the factory, but a few things stood out. no matter how small, would result in
history and philosophy of the 800 series According to Dave Ford, head of produc- rejection. Impressive.
by senior product manager Andy Kerr. tion, all B&W speakers used to be made My final morning at B&W was spent
Development of technology at B&W is in this 135,000-square-foot facility; now, at the listening room in the Steyning
ongoing, and many of the new features it and its 320 employees make only the Research Establishment (SRE), originally
now being implemented have been in 800 models. To my surprise, produc- established by John Bowers as B&W’s
the works since well before the release tion of the 800 D3 series was already R&D facility. I’d earlier visited the site
of the previous 800 series. This theme in full swing, the intention being to have to see the labs, the modeling shop, and
was repeated by Martial Rousseau, product in the distribution pipeline the buzzing engineering workroom,
head of research, who outlined the worldwide by launch date. As we toured where more than two dozen people were
background work that determined the each department—from driver construc- preparing for the future. Still, the day’s
changes that have gone into the new tion and testing to cabinet construction biggest kick was entering the B&W lis-
speakers. Recent improvements in struc- and finishing to final assembly, quality tening room, pictures of which I’ve seen
tural analysis made possible by the use control, and packaging—Ford showed for decades. Here is where every B&W
of a laser Doppler vibrometer permitted me the care and precision of the work speaker model and update is vetted by
Rousseau’s team to determine how the being done at each stage. the designers and production people.
structures should be modified to mini- I was particularly impressed with the The purpose of that day’s auditions
mize responses to sound-related forces. painting and finishing of the Turbine was to compare the older Diamond
3D printing allowed them to quickly Head and solid-body tweeter housings. models with the new D3 models. The
print and test prototypes. Advances in Following each of the multiple applica- B&W guys swapped them in and out,
finite element analysis and computer tions of paint, workers hand-polished using padded hand trucks. In every case,
modeling and simulation contributed to and carefully inspected the housings. using the same few musical selections,
their research. This long and fascinat- As I examined a rack full of housings, the D3s sounded distinctly clearer and
ing presentation included extraordinary Ford told me that they were rejects; sure more dynamic, and conveyed a more
graphics that showed how changes in enough, their imperfections had been open and convincing soundstage. I re-
shape and materials can reduce reso- marked. But many of the circles sur- turned home greatly looking forward to
nant responses and distortion. This was rounded flaws invisible to me, and those getting a pair of 802 D3s to audition on
done by magnifying the time and ampli- that I could see were minuscule. I asked my own home field.—Kalman Rubinson

“First things first. Cables do
make a huge difference. If
you disagree, that’s because
you’ve never owned a cable
like this before! Transparency
is amazing.”
Coury James Hodges
-The Audiophile Group
ph: 801-621-5530 · axios.kimber.com

EQ U IPMENT R EPORT
MICHAEL FREMER
Marten Coltrane 3
LOUDSPEAKER
M
arten is a small Swedish loudspeaker manufac-
turer with great aspirations, some of which the
company has largely met. Leif Mårten Olofs-
son founded Marten and designs the speakers,
while brother Jörgen Olofsson runs the business as CEO—a
division of creative and administrative labors similar to the
working relationship between David and Norman Chesky,
the founders of Chesky Records and HDtracks.
Marten’s ambitious “statement” model, the Coltrane
Supreme 2—a 78.8"-tall, 507-lb design that costs half a
million bucks—effectively makes the point that this little
company can build big. Designing and building a $500,000/
pair speaker is one thing; selling it is another. But a year ago,
when I met the Olofssons after hours at High End 2015,
in Munich, they told me they’d sold four sets of Coltrane
Supreme 2s that day. They beamed.
The feat was more remarkable to me because, earlier last
year, while in Sweden for the High End Mässan (HEM)
show in Stockholm, I visited Marten’s offices, showroom,
and listening room in Gothenburg, as well as their modestly
sized assembly and packing facility a few hours’ drive away—
it seemed almost too small to contain a pair of Supreme
2s. Since then, the assembly facility has been moved to
Gothenburg.
What most impressed me during my visit were the con-
siderable resources that had been devoted to the construc-
tion of two well-isolated and acoustically treated listening
rooms, in which Leif designs Marten products. The attrac-
tive larger room serves both as a demonstration area open to
The pure-ceramic 7" midrange

driver has an underhung
neodymium-magnet motor.
SPECIFICATIONS
Description Three-way, 60kHz, ±2dB. Sensitivity: Finishes Side panels: high- Djurgårdsgatan 10, 414 62
reflex-loaded, floorstanding 88dB/m/2.83V. Impedance: gloss carbon fiber. Front Gothenburg, Sweden.
loudspeaker. Drive-units 6 ohms nominal, 3.7 ohms baffles available in Matte Tel: (46) (0)31-20-72-00.
(all made with Accuton’s minimum. Power rating: Walnut or one of three Fax: (46) (0)31-20-72-70.
Cell Concept technology): 350W. Included: Stainless- Metallic finishes: Taupe, Web: www.marten.se.
1" diamond-dome tweeter, steel stands with Black Black, Khaki. US distributor:
7" ceramic-dome mid- Diamond Racing Cones and Serial numbers of units Sound Advice,
range, two 10” long-throw pucks. reviewed G1509290LL/R. 1087 E. Ridgewood Street,
aluminum-sandwich- Dimensions 47.6" (1220mm) Price $100,000/pair. Ap- Long Beach, CA 90807.
dome woofers. Crossover H by 15.4" (395mm) W by proximate number of deal- Tel: (562) 422-4747.
frequencies: 320Hz, 3.8kHz. 25" (640mm) D. Weight: ers: 8. Warranty: 3 years. Web: www.ear-usa.com.
Frequency response: 20Hz– 209 lbs (95kg). Manufacturer Marten,

MARTEN COLTRANE 3
the public and as a venue for concerts. Obviously, given the The Coltrane 3s This is produced using
names of Marten speakers—Coltrane, Miles, Django, Getz, a one-piece mold that
Duke, Mingus, Monk—the brothers are big jazz fans. They
produced some of bakes the laminate in a
also run their own record label, Marten Records. the best bass I’ve vacuum at 300° to pro-
Like many small (and some large) speaker makers, ever heard here. duce a lightweight, ultra-
Marten outsources the manufacture of its drivers and rigid, curved enclosure
cabinets, both produced to their specifications. But while with no parallel sides.
driver manufacture is a Scandinavian specialty, Marten buys This is then damped with “specially tested” bitumen asphalt,
theirs from the German company Thiel & Partner GmbH, and filled with pure sheep’s wool that has been washed and
best known for their Accuton ceramic drivers, which have treated. The outer finish is seven layers of polished piano
high ratios of stiffness to mass and are used by a number of lacquer.
speaker makers. Like most designers I’ve spoken with, Leif The new cabinet is 47.6" tall by 15.4" wide by 25" deep—
Olofsson made clear to me that the drivers in his speakers about 4" taller and wider, and an inch deeper, than the
are not off-the-shelf types, but the results of close collabora- original Coltrane. Four inches may not sound like much,
tion with Thiel & Partner. and in some ways it doesn’t look like a lot, but it is. This is a
pretty big speaker. Consider that while the original Coltrane
Outside and In weighed 104 lbs, the Coltrane 3 is twice that: a hefty 209
I reviewed the original Coltrane in the February 2005 issue,1 lbs. But while both Coltrane’s cost and weight have doubled,
when Marten, then just six years old, still called itself Mårten I really don’t think Marten sells it by the pound.
Design. The Coltrane cost $50,000/pair, and was the com- The front baffle is now 68mm thick: two 30mm layers of
pany’s statement product. Two generations later, the new a “specially chosen” and highly damped black “fiberboard”
Coltrane 3 looks very similar to the original, and still has a sandwiching a 6mm-thick aluminum plate, bonded with
4" downfiring port tuned to about 22Hz. But much else has 1mm layers of “deadening glue.” According to Marten,
changed, including the cabinet’s size—it’s bigger—all of the this construction will extinguish any and every stray driver
drivers, and the price, which has doubled, to $100,000/pair. vibration before it can reach the rest of the cabinet. (The
Back for a well-deserved encore is the Coltrane’s sophis- measurements by John Atkinson that accompanied my
ticated cabinet construction of 25mm-thick laminate: two
layers of carbon fiber sandwiching a 1" Kevlar honeycomb. 1 See www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/205marten/index.html.
MEASUREMENTS
I
used DRA Labs’ MLSSA system electrical impedance and phase. The energy on this axis.
and a calibrated DPA 4006 mi- impedance remains above 6 ohms for I always begin my measurements
crophone to measure the Marten the entire midrange and treble regions, of a speaker’s behavior on the tweeter
Coltrane 3’s frequency response and though the magnitude drops to a axis, as this is both easily repeatable
in the farfield; for the in-room and minimum value of 3.1 ohms between and, very often, the intended listening
nearfield frequency responses, I used 72 and 93Hz, the phase angle is close axis. However, the Marten’s tweeter is
an Earthworks QTC-40. Because of the to 0° in this region, ameliorating any a high 45” from the ground, and you
Coltrane 3’s size and weight, I traveled driving difficulty for the partnering can see from the step response on
to Michael Fremer’s place to measure amplifier. Any amplifier specified as the tweeter axis (fig.2) that while all
the speaker in situ, but it was too heavy being able to drive 4 ohms will work the drive-units’ outputs are in positive
for us to lift it very high off the ground. well with the Coltrane 3—something acoustic polarity, and even with the
The earlier-than-usual reflections of not true of the original Coltrane, which tilt-back of the speaker’s front baffle,
the drive-units’ output from the ground we reviewed in 2005.1 The Coltrane the tweeter’s output (the sharp up/
meant that I had to aggressively win- 3’s voltage sensitivity is specified as down spike) is slightly ahead of the
dow the impulse-response data, thus 88dB/2.83V/m. My estimate of the combined output of the midrange unit
compromising the resolution in the sensitivity on the tweeter axis was and woofers.2 Moving the microphone
midrange. lower, at 84dB(B)/2.83V/m, but this down a few inches will push back the
Fig.1 shows the Coltrane 3’s was reduced by a lack of mid-treble tweeter’s output so that it coincides
with the lower units’ outputs, resulting
Stereophile Marten Coltrane 3 Impedance (ohms) & Phase (deg) vs Frequency (Hz)
in an excellent, time-coincident, right-
triangle shape to the step,3 confirming
Data in Volts
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/m229rten-
design-coltrane-loudspeaker-measurements.
2 The original Coltrane’s tweeter and woofers were
wired in positive polarity, the midrange unit in
negative polarity. It, too, was time-coherent, but not
time-coincident.
3 I measure loudspeakers at a standardized distance
of 50”. However, as the Coltrane 3 uses first-order
Time in ms crossover filters, Marten’s Leif Olofsson measures
the speaker at 3m (10’). Our inability to raise the
Fig.1 Marten Coltrane 3, electrical impedance Fig.2 Marten Coltrane 3, step response on tweeter Coltrane 3 very far off the ground meant that this
(solid) and phase (dashed) (2 ohms/vertical div.). axis at 50” (5ms time window, 30kHz bandwidth). was not possible.

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MARTEN COLTRANE 3
2005 review demonstrated the efficacy of the

original Coltrane’s cabinet design.)
The Coltrane 3’s all-new drivers represent a
major technological step forward and account
for much of the increase in price. All three
employ Accuton’s Cell Concept technol-
ogy, for which that brand claims excellent
pistonic behavior, steady decay of higher-order
harmonics, and identical acoustic centers for
midrange drivers and tweeters.
Each Coltrane 3 contains a pair of 10"
woofers, the long (±16mm) excursions of
which are made possible in part by a new
spider shape claimed to produce “ultra-low
distortion and energy storage.” The woof-
ers’ unusual looking domes are made of an
ultra-stiff aluminum honeycomb sandwich:
There’s so much honeycombing going on here
that I expected bees to fly out of the speakers’
downfiring ports (rim shot).
The pure-ceramic 7" midrange driver has
an underhung neodymium-magnet mo-
tor—the motor diameter is less than that of
Marten outsources
the manufacture of its
drivers and cabinets.
Marten’s claim that the Coltrane 3 is of energy above 10kHz and in the lower The two woofers behave identically,
“100% time and phase coherent.” midrange. Unfortunately, as I men- and their summed output is shown
This was confirmed by compar- tioned before, the graph’s resolution as the blue trace in fig.3. As expected
ing the farfield frequency responses in the latter region will have been af- from the impedance plot, their re-
on the tweeter axis and 5° below the fected by the windowing of the impulse sponse has a sharply defined notch
tweeter axis, approximately level with response to eliminate floor reflections. at the port-tuning frequency of 19Hz,
the midrange unit and 38” from the The saddle centered on 19Hz in the and the use of first-order filters means
ground.4 The tweeter-axis response impedance-magnitude trace (fig.1) sug- that the woofers roll out slowly above
has a large suckout in the crossover gests that this is the tuning frequency 320Hz, where they’re crossed over to
region, which will have affected the of the large port. The port’s response, the midrange unit. The black trace be-
measured sensitivity on this axis. By measured in the nearfield, is shown as low 300Hz in fig.3 shows the complex
contrast, the response on the lower the red trace in fig.3. This peaks be- sum of the woofer and port outputs,
axis (fig.3) is relatively even from the tween 12 and 36Hz, and though some and though there is the expected peak
upper midrange up to the top octave, low-level resonances can be seen in its in the midbass due to the nearfield
though there appears to be a slight lack midrange output, their audibility will be measurement technique, the peak is
reduced by the fact that the port fires higher than the norm. (For all measure-
downward from the enclosure’s base. ments, the bass control was left in the
setting chosen by Marten’s Leif Mårten
Olofsson when he set up the speakers
Amplitude in dB
in MF’s room.)
The Coltrane 3’s lateral dispersion
Amplitude in dB
(not shown) was even across the

audioband out to 15° to the speaker’s
sides, though the top octave began
to roll off more than 30° off-axis. In
Frequency in Hz the vertical plane (not shown), the
Fig.3 Marten Coltrane 3, anechoic response 5°
below tweeter axis at 50", corrected for micro- Frequency in Hz
4 Leif Olofsson recommends a measuring-micro-
phone response, with nearfield responses of woofer phone height of 38”, though he says that arranging
(blue), port (red), and complex sum of woofer and Fig.4 Marten Coltrane 3, spatially averaged, for the listener’s ear height to be between 35” and
port responses (black), respectively plotted below 1⁄ -octave response in MF’s listening room (red);
6 43” (0.9–1.1m) will work for listener distances of 8’
310Hz, 600Hz, and 300Hz. and of Wilson Audio Alexandria XLF (blue). to 13’ (2.5–4m).

MARTEN COLTRANE 3
the dome—which is claimed to eliminate

energy storage and reflections. Marten To really
says that the low-loss rubber surround
and thin fabric spider center the mov- sing, they’ll
ing parts, to help produce high linearity need a lot
and “the least distorted midrange on the
entire market”—about 0.05% at 2.83V,
of power.
and a maximum of 0.4% at 110dB.
The new 1" tweeter has an ultra-hard,
well-damped dome of pure diamond
with a breakup mode claimed to be “way
above” the audioband. The tweeter, too,
has an underhung motor, along with a
double neodymium magnet and a vented
aluminum voice-coil former. Marten says
that this design produces high excursions,
low power compression, and “ultralow”
distortion: around 0.04% at 2.83V and a
max of 0.4% at 110dB.
First used in the Coltrane Supreme
2, the Coltrane 3’s low-loss, first-order
crossover (220Hz and 3.8kHz) uses
metalized polypropylene capacitors (both aluminum and for biwiring or biamping. For single-wiring, Marten supplies
silver/gold in oil) and copper-foil coils. Also the result of a jumpers.
collaboration with Accuton, this design, which Marten calls
“minimalist,” still manages to comprise 70 components. Setup
Marten says that the result is “100% time and phase coher- Like the original Coltrane, the Coltrane 3 sits on cross
ent”—something manufacturers often claim but that JA’s members made of polished stainless steel, which in turn sit
measurements rarely confirm. on Black Diamond Racing Cones and pucks, high enough
The Coltrane 3’s internal wiring is pure copper from off the floor to give the port room to breathe. (Changing
Jorma Design. The terminals are pairs of WBT Nextgens, that dimension by raising or lowering the threaded cones
crossover region filled in both above reference, the blue trace is the spatially ing that experimenting with toe-in can
and below the tweeter axis. averaged response of the Wilson Audio optimize the top-octave balance.
With a large speaker that has Alexandria XLFs, taken under identical Fig.5 shows the Coltrane 3’s cumula-
first-order crossover filters, and thus conditions in MF’s room. tive spectral-decay plot on the optimal
significant overlap of the outputs of its The two speaker models behave axis. With its time-coincident behavior,
drive-units, the most important mea- very similarly above 700Hz, though it came as no surprise that the initial
surement is probably the spatially aver- the Martens are smoother overall than decay is very clean. However, some
aged in-room response. The red trace the Wilsons in the presence region. resonant behavior can be seen in the
in fig.4 is the Coltrane 3’s response in Both speakers are affected by room mid- and high treble, perhaps due to
MF’s listening room, generated by aver- modes below 400Hz, though the breakup modes in the midrange unit
aging 20 1⁄6 -octave–smoothed spectra, Coltrane 3s have less energy between that are ineffectively suppressed by the
individually taken for the left and 200 and 400Hz than the Wilsons, first-order crossover filter.
right speakers using SMUGSoftware’s and more energy between 100 and Finally, although the Coltrane 3’s
FuzzMeasure 3.0 program and a 96kHz 200Hz. The Swedish speakers have a enclosure felt very inert, listening to its
sample rate, in a vertical rectangular lot of energy apparent in the low bass, various surfaces with a stethoscope as
grid 36” wide by 18” high and centered whereas the American speakers are I swept a sinewave tone up and down
on the positions of MF’s ears. For better controlled, which may be due revealed a couple of low-level modes
to their ability to choose between the between 270 and 350Hz, and a 130Hz
front and rear ports. But I note that MF tone excited a slight internal buzz.
wrote that the Coltrane 3 “produced None of this behavior was audible
the deepest bass” he’d heard in his without the stethoscope.
room, which correlates nicely with this The decision to use a first-order
measured response. The individual crossover puts a large burden on a
measurements that were averaged to loudspeaker designer to get everything
produce the red trace in fig.4 con- else right. Its measured performance
firmed that the Coltrane 3’s output suggests that Leif Mårten Olofsson has
Fig.5 Marten Coltrane 3, cumulative spectral-decay above 10kHz did fall off rapidly more done so with his Coltrane 3.
plot on midrange axis at 50" (0.15ms risetime). than 30° to the speaker’s sides, mean- —John Atkinson

MARTEN COLTRANE 3
Directionality
affects the speaker’s bass
performance.)
The Brothers Olofsson
Is Your Friend
flew over from Sweden
to set up the Coltrane 3s Metal Drawing Dies
in my listening room. I
think that’s money well
spent for a review of a
$100,000/pair of speak-
ers. While the original
Coltranes were somewhat
difficult to position cor-
rectly in my room, the
Coltrane 3s proved much
easier, probably due in
part to what would prove
to be the new speaker’s
It’s All About
far superior bass perfor-
mance. But, like the origi-
Reducing Noise
nals, the new Coltranes In order to fabricate copper or silver
ended up very close to into a strand or conductor, it is first
where most speakers cast and then drawn through a die—
work best in my room, and toed in so Like the original a process that creates a directional
that only their baffles were visible from Coltrane, the 3’s pattern in the conductor’s internal
my listening seat. Of course, given
overall sound grain structure, and most importantly,
how much smaller the Coltrane 3s
a non-symmetrical overlay of grains
are than my reference Wilson Audio was effortless.
Alexandria XLFs, the Martens’ greater at the conductor’s surface. This
distances from the side and front walls asymmetrical surface structure causes
gave them more breathing room. bass notes. a slight directional difference in
Concerned that the Black Diamond The Coltrane 3s, housed in an im- impedance at high noise and interfer-
Racing Cones wouldn’t couple well proved version of the original cabinet ence frequencies.
with my carpeted floor, Leif Olofs- design and playing in the same room, Due to skin-effect, such high-frequency
son said he’d send sharper spikes that produced some of the best bass I’ve energy travels almost exclusively on
would reach the concrete below. But I ever heard here. Marten’s specs claim the surface of a conductor, giving
had no complaints whatever about the a frequency response of 20Hz–60kHz,
significance to the directional differ-
speakers’ bass performance or image ±2dB, and I heard nothing to contra-
ence in impedance at these frequencies.
stability “out of the box.” As we’d done dict that. Although my room is notori-
Because all energy will always take
with the Coltranes, we experimented ous for being incapable of expressing
with the Jorma Design speaker cables the lowest octave, the Coltrane 3 the path of least resistance, when
the Olofsson brothers had brought, produced the deepest bass I’ve heard a cable is oriented so that the high-
as well as with Wireworld’s Platinum here, with the exception of the original frequency noise—whether from a
Eclipse 7 and TARA Labs’ Omega Vandersteen Model Seven, which has a computer, radio station, cell tower,
Evolution SP. While the Jormas built-in powered subwoofer. etc.—is “directed” to ground, or to
had worked best with the original The Coltrane 3’s new, long-excur- the end of the cable attached to less
Coltranes, the Coltrane 3s fared bet- sion drivers delivered speed, punch, vulnerable equipment, the dynamic
ter with Wireworld and TARA Labs and dynamic wallop, combined with intermodulation and associated ring-
cables—but more about that later. a fully expressive tunefulness that ing generated in the active electronics
The lethal spikes arrived just before entirely avoided the overdamped will be greatly reduced.
Dan Meinwald of Sound Advice, Mar- “home-theater bass” that sometimes
ten’s US distributor, paid a visit with accompanies punch. Notes exploded, The unpleasant, strained sound that
New York City dealer Wes Bender. decayed, and disappeared without occurs when conductors have the
We listened both ways, and all agreed hangover. This was with the Coltrane wrong orientation is the result of noise
that, for whatever reason or reasons, 3’s four-position bass-sensitivity switch entering and causing misbehavior
the bass was better with the original (1dB of attenuation for each click) set and intermodulation in an active
Black Diamond Racing Cones. to “maximum.” circuit. The more relaxed, full-bodied
Bass transients were cleanly sound of correctly oriented conductors
Any good for $100,000? expressed, followed by well-defined is the result of less high-frequency
You’d better believe it. Leif Olofs- textural and harmonic structures that interference. It’s like relieving yourself
son has improved the imperfectly combined to produce those real bass downwind instead of against the wind.
disciplined bass and lack of consistent notes. The results were consistently be-
tunefulness that I reported in my lievable renderings of the instruments
As always, the proof is in the listening!
review of the original Coltranes, which that produced the notes. This was true
sometimes produced just bass instead of throughout the bottom octaves, no
stereophile.com Q June 2016

MARTEN COLTRANE 3
matter the volume and no matter the Fortunately, Atlantic had also released
instrument. Granted, my room is of the album’s two discs separately, so I
modest size (15' wide by 22' long by could reunite the set. The Coltrane 3’s
8' high—but filled with records, so it rendering of this record was, in some
looks smaller), but I could push the ways, the best I’ve ever heard it. This
Coltrane 3s to very high SPLs without was due in part to the unrivaled bass
them revealing even a hint of strain. performance of the Swedish Analog
Their overall tonal and textural charac-
ter remained remarkably consistent.
Technologies tonearm, but also to
the Marten speaker’s exceptional
Musical
One record I’ve been wowing reproduction of attacks, sustains, and
visitors with lately is David Murray’s
Spirituals (LP, DIW-8042), recorded
decays. This concert (or concerts) was
recorded in what sounds like a me-
perfection
by the great engineer Jim Anderson at
the late Phil Ramone’s A&R Studios,
dium to large hall with its own set of
reverberant characteristics. The room begins with
in New York, in January 1988. In reverb can swallow the bass lines and
“Amazing Grace,” Murray explores
much of his tenor saxophone’s range,
produce a warm bloat that obscures
bass transients and constrains rhythmic
German
braying high and digging down deep, drive; the Coltrane 3s were better at
as bassist Fred Hopkins plucks the
depths and drummer Ralph Peterson
unraveling that bottom-end informa-
tion than any other speaker I’ve had in
engineering.
Jr. rumbles and explodes on toms. my room.
Pianist Dave Burrell, almost buried in
the mix, mostly plays blocks of pound- Right to the Top
ing gospel chords to cut through the Once, on Facebook, CNET.com
clamor. This track—and, indeed, most contributor Steve Guttenberg posted
of Spirituals—sounds like the greatest the question “What’s your favorite
Saturday Night Live end-of-show cast tweeter?” My response: “The one that
reprise, ever. This astonishingly great, best matches the woofer.” I wasn’t
almost violent recording demonstrated being facetious. The speaker market is
all of the Coltrane 3’s finest attributes: replete with speakers that have speedy,
its speed and responsiveness, and the transparent tweeters; unfortunately, the
unerring tunefulness and impressive vi- woofers partnering them often stand
tality and clarity of its bottom end. You no chance of keeping up. The usual
need to hear the opening bass lines result is unquestionably spectacular
of “Blues for My Sisters (For Barbara high-frequency response, but with au-
and Michelle)” to really appreciate the dible discontinuity with the rest of the
Coltrane 3s’ solid, muscular, cleanly audio band. Sometimes, the designer
delineated bottom octaves. They’re ad- tries to hide the problem by limiting Decade Phono Stage
dictive, and through the Martens they the speaker’s bottom-end response. A milestone among the phono
produced stomach-clenching pressure In my review of the original Marten
waves I hadn’t thought were possible Coltrane, I wrote: “While getting the preamplifiers.
in my room. bass locked in lessened the diamond
I’ve been playing the Modern Jazz tweeter’s overbearing personality, I
Quartet’s European Concert (2 LPs, had to toe the speakers out more than
Atlantic SD 2-603) almost since its re- usual (the tweeter axes now crossed
lease, in 1960. I’ve always loved Percy farther behind my listening position) Distributed by:
Heath’s bass lines in Duke Ellington’s to both open the soundstage dimen-
ORTOFON INC
“It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got sions and create a smooth, sweet,
That Swing),” but half a century ago but still wide-open high-frequency 500 Executive Blvd Suite 102
they were difficult to hear through my presentation.” JA’s measurements Ossining, NY 10562
parents’ system. When my folks got produced a response curve showing
Acoustic Research AR-2ax speakers (I a somewhat suppressed midband, a Phone: (914) 762-8646
lobbied for that), Heath’s playing finally boosted presence region, and a slightly Fax: (914) 762-8649
had some weight. Then I got the idea recessed mid-treble. Overall, I found
info@ortofon.us
to move the speakers onto shelves in a the original Coltrane “a bit bright and
pair of closets on my bedroom’s short spotlit on top, slightly lean on bottom.” www.ortofon.us
wall: the bass was, of course, over- Toe-in was critical, and I ended up
whelming—but fun. Once, as I played using the Jorma speaker cables, which,
that song, my father called for me. to a degree, attenuated the tweeter’s
When I didn’t hear him, he marched somewhat aggressive top end.
into the room and broke the record
over my head.
The Coltrane 3’s tweeter proved
audibly less sensitive to toe-in, and this
Music to your ears.
That pretty much broke whatever time, the more open-sounding Wire- www.lehmannaudio.com/decade
fragile bond I had with my father. world Eclipse 7 and TARA Omega

MARTEN COLTRANE 3
Finally …
Evolution SP speaker cables produced
an overall better balance than did the
Jormas. The new diamond tweeter was
ing chains.”
The Coltrane 3 was far more
chameleon-like: it was far better
Toslink
less beamy than the old, yet was at least
as fast, airy, and resolving. I described
able to get out of the way and let
the recording assert itself. Just when
Gets Respect
the original tweeter’s personality I thought that perhaps the speaker’s
as “overbearing.” Though the new midrange was slightly recessed, I’d put
tweeter was more of a smoothie, it left on something like k.d. lang’s Ingénue,
little room for bright-sounding record- on LP (Sire WX-465) or CD (Sire
ings, from which it could still produce 26840-2)—and I wouldn’t want any
sizzly results. more or less midband expressiveness
But unlike the woofers in the origi- or resolution.
nal Coltrane, Marten’s new woofers The speaker’s neutral reproduction
are fully capable of keeping up with of massed and solo strings well suited
the Coltrane 3’s tweeter. my listening tastes. If I wanted more
warmth and bloom, I’d do so at the
Midrange Finesse front end—it wouldn’t take much. But
Because the original Coltrane’s in my system, driven by the solid-state
midband was slightly suppressed, the darTZeel NHB-458 monoblocks,
speaker lacked the creamy midrange the Coltrane 3s left me satisfied and For over 30 years, since the introduction
some listeners crave. While the convinced with every listen. However, of CD, the Toslink Optical system couldn’t
Coltrane 3’s midband was similarly if you’re obsessed with Quad elec- get any audiophile respect.
uncreamy, its mid-frequency fill was trostatic speakers, nothing produced The reason was two-fold: the system’s
more substantial, which produced a far by Marten—or any other maker of bandwidth limitations got more theo-
smoother, richer tonal balance overall. moving-coil speakers—will be likely to retical attention than the system’s
As I described it in 2005, the origi- make you switch. inherent noise isolation advantage,
nal Coltrane’s sound “tended to carve and, the supplied-for-free Toslink cables
away adjacent space, leaving images A Singular Purpose that were most everyone’s introduction to
Toslink, were and are very poor cables.
free to float in dramatic three-dimen- Looking back at my review of the
sional relief. The Coltrane’s musical original Marten Coltrane, I’d say that 30+ years later, Toslink Optical is very much
grip was firm and well-controlled from Leif Olofsson’s design goals have not alive and well. It is often the highest
the midband up, and while it didn’t changed. What have changed are the performance means for connecting much
sound etchy or bright, the presentation technologies available to him, which of our electronic world—televisions,
set-top boxes, media streamers, sound-
was revealing of every flaw that pre- now allow him to better achieve those
bars, disc players, gaming consoles,
ceded it in the recording and reproduc- goals. computers, and more.
All Toslink cables provide perfect galvanic
A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T isolation, reducing the irritation and
confusion caused by noise in the
system—but most Toslink cables do
Analog Sources Continuum Audio Cables Interconnect: Snake River Au-
a poor job of passing light without
Labs Caliburn & Castellon turntable dio Boomslang S/PDIF, Stealth Sakra damaging the signal.
& stand; TechDAS Air Force One & Indra, TARA Labs Zero Evolution &
turntable; Kuzma 4Point, Mørch DP-8, Zero, Teresonic Clarison Gold, Wire- Imperfections in an optical fiber cause
Reed 3P, Swedish Analog Technologies world Platinum Eclipse. Speaker: TARA light to scatter. If this light was lost, all
tonearms; Lyra Atlas & Atlas SL & Etna, Labs Omega Evolution SP, Wireworld would be well. Unfortunately, as with the
energy storage that AQ’s DBS addresses
Ortofon Anna & A95, Ikeda (mono), Platinum Eclipse 7. AC: AudioQuest
in our analog cables, the scattered light
Miyajima Labs Zero (mono) & Madake high-current prototype, Shunyata Re- does reach the next unit’s input—but
cartridges. search ZiTron Sigma Analog & Sigma it arrives late, compromising and band-
Digital Sources Simaudio Moon Analog HC & Sigma Digital. width-limiting the recoverability of the
Evolution 650D transport-DAC & Accessories Oyaide AC wall box & re- digital signal.
780D streaming DSD DAC; Lynx Hilo ceptacles; AudioQuest Niagara 7000
A source’s LED sends light into a Toslink
A/D-D/A converter; Meridian Sooloos power conditioner; ASC Tube Traps;
cable at multiple angles—the less
Digital Media System; Pure Vinyl, Vinyl RPG BAD, Skyline & Abffusor panels; straight-in light takes longer to reach the
Studio softwares. Stillpoints Aperture Room panels; far end of the cable as it bounces off the
Preamplification Ypsilon MC-10L & Synergistic Research UEF products walls of the fiber. AQ’s higher-performance
MC-16L step-up transformers; LKV (various); Symposium Rollerblocks multi-fiber models significantly reduce
Veros, Pure Audio Vinyl, Viva, Ypsilon & Ultra platform; HRS Signature this problem. The tiny aperture of each
VPS-100 phono preamplifiers; darTZ- SXR, Stillpoints ESS, Finite Elemente fiber acts like a pin-hole camera, which
eel NHB-18NS preamplifier. Pagode equipment stands; Audiod- can take an in-focus photo even without
Power Amplifiers darTZeel NHB-458 harma Cable Cooker; Furutech record a lens because there is significantly less
monoblocks. demagnetizer & deStat; Loricraft PRC4 angle or time variation.
Loudspeakers Wilson Audio Special- Deluxe, Audiodesksysteme Gläss Vinyl As always, the proof is in the listening!
ties Alexandria XLF. Cleaner record cleaners. —Michael Fremer

MARTEN COLTRANE 3
In that review, I described the Coltrane as “a speaker Coltrane 3s could do some things the big Wilsons couldn’t.
that’s fast, tight, and bristles with transient energy and detail, One is more like a nimble sports car, the other is more like a
yet one that takes enough time to let the harmonic over- roadster. I enjoy both.
tones develop. Rhythm and pace are the Coltrane’s business-
es—hardly surprising, given the designer’s swinging musical Conclusions
tastes.” That also describes the sound of the Coltrane 3—and A loudspeaker’s measured performance is one thing. The
the 3 is better at all of it. Like the original Coltrane, the 3’s fun of listening to it is another. Regardless of how well a pair
overall sound was effortless, and remarkably similar at SPLs of speakers might measure, if you’re not having fun listening
high or low, especially in terms of resolution of fine detail to music through them, what good are they? I’m sure the
and bass dynamics—though the new woofers are far better Marten Coltrane 3s will measure well—and better than the
at it. original Coltrane—in every parameter. More important,
The Coltrane 3s also produced holographic, pinpoint they provided 100% listening pleasure and musical satisfac-
images, both in front of and behind the baffles, as appropri- tion, every time. Their reproduction of every musical genre
ate—but as I said of the original Coltranes, the sizes of these was completely convincing in terms of tonality, texture, and
aural pictures were “more about bringing the event to you dynamics. They provided a full-frequency-range experience,
than about bringing you to the event.” I wrote that last ob- and resolved all the fine detail anyone paying $100,000 for a
servation a few years before I heard the largest loudspeaker pair of speakers is entitled to.
models from Wilson Audio Specialties in my room, after But remember the Coltrane 3’s sensitivity of 88dB/
which that distinction became more obvious. As with the m/2.83V: to really sing, they’ll need a lot of power. While
similarly sized (42.5" tall) Vandersteen Model Sevens, the the Wilson Alexandria XLFs rarely need more than a few
overall width and height of the Martens’ soundstages didn’t watts to fill the room with high SPLs, during the Martens’
compare with the Wilson Alexandria XLFs’ widescreen, time in my system, the peak power meters of my darTZeel
floor-to-ceiling presentation. NHB-458 amps regularly went into 100W territory, and
However, the driver outputs of the Wilson Alexandrias often higher.
and, to a lesser extent, the Vandersteen Sevens are physi- Thanks to improved technology and an additional de-
cally time-aligned by means of stepped enclosures. In my cade’s worth of experience, Leif Olofsson has probably taken
opinion, in terms of sound, this allows for instrumental his design as far as it can go. Whether or not you want to go
layering and an apparent bafflelessness that no “slab” speaker there too will be a matter of personal taste. But with all pre-
can duplicate, regardless of degree of baffle rake or meticu- vious problems resolved, this new, larger Coltrane is almost
lousness of crossover design. Granted, not everyone cares twice the heft of the original and costs twice as much. I’d say
about this aspect of spatial performance. And clearly, the it’s almost twice as good. Q

EQ U IPMENT R EPORT
HERB REICHERT
Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0

LINE STAGE/INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER/HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
T
his is a true story about a surprising
1W integrated amplifier—a push-pull,
class-A, output-transformerless
tube amp—that drove my DeVore
Fidelity Orangutan O/93 speakers to 90dB
average levels with grace, spiderweb detail,
liquidity, and—unbelievably—a small
degree of bass slam.
What the hell is it?

Have you ever observed an object for
which you had no name? I mean, no
whatchamacallit name at all? In the
anthropological story of humans,
the act of naming has powerful
significance. In our everyday world,
humans, objects, and forces don’t
fully exist for us until they’re bap-
tized, anointed, given a proper name.
(“It’s a girl!”) Naming is transformative—
it categorizes. (“It’s a miracle!”) Names
generate pictures and memories. Names
provoke feelings. (Think women named
Bridget, Beyoncé, Barbie.)
Like those B-names above, names pre- David Berning introduced amp—that drove my DeVore
form and deform our direct experiences. the original low-power, Fidelity Orangutan O/93
How? By their very nature, names assign speakers to 90dB average levels
virtue and value to our experiences before modestly priced with grace, spiderweb detail,
we even experience them. Worse, they microZOTL in 1998. liquidity, and—unbelievably—a
convert pure sensory data into something small degree of bass slam.
that is mostly a cultural and emotional This is a true story about a
projection. Do I need to explain how much this naming new tubed headphone amplifier that plays every set of ’phones
game has corrupted our sacred hobby of listening to repro- I tried with extraordinary levels of liquid transparency, detail,
duced music in our homes? and tuneful ease.
Every adjective I use in this review has been predefined This is a true story about a world-class line-level preamplifier
and precolored by my reviewing ancestors. Thank you, designed by a venerable audio designer named David Bern-
Gordon and Harry! So let me start again . . . ing and manufactured by a company named Linear Tube
This is a true story about a surprising 1W integrated Audio, founded in 2015 by inspired engineer and product
amplifier—a push-pull, class-A, output-transformerless tube designer Mark Schneider.
SPECIFICATIONS
Description Tubed, stereo ohms, 0.5Wpc into 14 ohms. W by 4.7" (120mm) H by Price $1100. Approximate
headphone amplifier with Voltage gain: 10.3dB into 4 7.7" (197mm) D (amplifier number of dealers: 20.
separate 12V DC power sup- ohms, 12.4dB into 14 ohms. chassis). Weight: 5.5 lbs Warranty: 1 year, including
ply module. Tube comple- Sensitivity: 600mV RMS for (2.5kg). tubes.
ment: two 12AT7 miniature full output. Output imped- Finishes Black or Midnight Manufacturer Linear Tube
dual-triodes, two 6SN7 octal ance: 2 ohms. Input imped- Blue, clear Lexan top. Audio, Washington, DC.
JOHN ATKINSON
dual-triodes. Maximum ance: 50k ohms. Serial number of unit Tel: (202) 450-6480. Web:
output power: 1Wpc into 4 Dimensions 9.4" (241mm) reviewed 0053. www.lineartubeaudio.com.

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LINEAR TUBE AUDIO MICROZOTL2.0
Linear Tube Audio has christened this futuristic trident of Even with my beloved Quad ESL 57s, I thought, The cure is
amplification the microZOTL2.0 ($1100). worse than the cold. My sensitive audio sensitivities didn’t ap-
preciate the anxious feelings, oscillations, and circuit failures
David Berning caused by all the feedback required to make row upon row
I have admired David Berning since the 1970s, when I en- of hot tubes achieve a low enough output impedance to
joyed his EA230 tube amplifier. The EA230 was a sonically drive even a pair of 15-ohm BBC LS3/5a’s.
well-balanced variation on the classic Williamson circuit (a
push-pull amplifier, made with carefully designed output Description
transformers and using global negative feedback), which David Berning introduced the original low-power, modestly
sounded especially good with electrostatic speakers. priced microZOTL ($680) in 1998. He called it a “personal
In 1995, after more than 20 years of designing tube amps, amplifier,” and it included a headphone output jack. It
Berning rejected what he believed were the limitations of was discontinued in 2007. Then, in 2015, smart guy Mark
output transformers. Hoping to take thermionic valves to Schneider licensed the design for the inaugural product
a new, less “tubey”-sounding level of performance,
Berning introduced his patented zero-hysteresis Every adjective I use in this review
output-transformerless (ZOTL) circuit. He says that
his ZOTL circuit is an “impedance converter” that has been predefined and precolored
replaces a traditional tube output transformer by us- by my reviewing ancestors.
ing “DC-DC switching converters operating at fixed
frequencies well above the audio frequencies. The actual from his new company, Linear Tube Audio. Schneider
voltage and current impedance transformations are done via added a few wise touches—a nicer case, a second line-level
special high-frequency transformers. This is an RF carrier input—but kept Berning’s original circuit. This uses half of
system that eliminates the frequency-dependent distortions one 12AT7 dual-triode tube as a voltage amplifier, and the
present in audio transformers, and can enable the amplifier other half as a split-load phase inverter. Surprisingly, this
to have a wider frequency response and be DC coupled.”1 common configuration drives not a pair of EL34 or KT120
power pentodes, but a 6SN7 medium-mu twin triode—as a
OTL, SCHMOTL . . . single-tube push-pull class-A output stage!
I’ve owned a few output-transformerless (OTL) amplifiers, Antiphase waveforms from the two halves of the 6SN7
including Julius Futterman’s H3aa and a pair of New York are superimposed on 250kHz carrier waves, and the voltage
Audio Labs OTL1s. But for me, OTLs never really solved
the frequency-extreme problems of output transformers. 1 See www.davidberning.com/technology.
MEASUREMENTS
I
performed a full set of measure- Because the amplifier’s unique output from 46k ohms at low and middle
ments on the Linear Tube Audio stage uses an RF oscillator modulated frequencies to 36.5k ohms at the top of
microZOTL2.0 using my Audio with the audio signal, there was around the audioband. The output impedance
Precision SYS2722 system (see 7mV of RF noise present on its output, was 2 ohms across most of the audio-
the January 2008 “As We See It,” www. so I experimented with using the Audio band, as specified, increasing slightly
stereophile.com/content/measure- Precision passive low-pass filter to to 2.35 ohms at 20kHz.
ments-maps-precision). The three sets eliminate the effect of this noise, as In terms of frequency response, the
of outputs—headphone, RCA jacks, well as a brickwall filter at 20kHz for two channels matched very closely and,
speaker terminals—are connected in the distortion measurements. commendably, the response was not
parallel, with a shunt 470k ohm resis- The maximum voltage gain was a affected by the volume-control setting.
tor connecting the hot connection to low 12.9dB, and the microZOTL2.0 However, an ultrasonic peak between
ground. I therefore took most of the preserved absolute polarity. The input 60 and 70kHz became more accentu-
measurements from the RCA jacks. impedance was relatively high, ranging ated the higher the load impedance
d
B
r
A
Hz
Fig.1 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, frequency Fig.2 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, small- Fig.3 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, small-
response at 1V into: 100 ohms (blue), 30 ohms signal, 1kHz squarewave into 100k ohms. signal, 10kHz squarewave into 100k ohms.
(magenta), 20 ohms (red), 10 ohms (gray) (2dB/
vertical div.).

The Art & Science of Sound
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difference that results is impressed across a radio-frequency one, then two notes sounds almost like the composer speak-
(RF) converter transformer with a turns ratio of 168:1. ing the words storm and urge. Artur Schnabel plays Sonata
This unusual strategy produces 1Wpc into 4 ohms with no 17 with a unique range and balance of contrasts—calm vs
global negative feedback, and an output impedance of only excited, loud vs quiet—masterfully used as tools to express
2 ohms. not only Beethoven’s musical invention but his vision of
The original microZOTL came in bright blue casework the century that lay ahead (CD, EMI CDHH 63765). I
with a store-window glass front so that the listener could don’t know how, but driving the 93dB/W/m DeVores, the
admire the glowing tubes. The power switch, volume 1Wpc microZOTL2.0 showed me more pianistic power
control, and headphone jack perched awkwardly at
the top rear. Schneider’s microZOTL2.0 sits on your The microZOTL2.0 played Zu’s Soul
desk or equipment rack with considerably more
high-tech presence and subtle masculinity. Its case is Supreme speakers with a bell-clear,
made of black anodized aluminum, with a top plate pure-water transparency.
of clear Lexan, a polycarbonate. The Power button
on the faceplate is elegantly encircled by red light when and subtlety from this recording than ever before. The
the amplifier is switched on. To the right of this is a toggle sonata’s—and Schnabel’s—dynamic contrasts felt radically
switch whose two positions are labeled 1 and 2, for the enhanced and more obvious than through any other amp
two line-level inputs; then comes an Alps volume pot with I’d used with these speakers. When I say power, I don’t mean
silky-smooth action, and a locking 1 ⁄4" headphone jack. The loudness; I mean tensile strength, clarity, and the effectiveness
rear panel, too, is simple, with high-quality speaker-binding of dynamic contrasts.
posts, those two line-level inputs (RCA), a preamp output I rarely play my music loud—just 88dB on average—but
(RCA), and a jack for the 12VDC power supply. it took only a few recordings before I forgot completely
that the microZOTL2.0 was putting out less than 1W into
Listening: DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93s the 10-ohm load of each DeVore O/93. If you have a small
Allegedly, a journalist asked Beethoven, “What does your room and listen at modest levels, this is a truly magical
D Minor piano sonata mean?” The master replied, “Read combination.
Shakespeare’s The Tempest.” Surely, Beethoven understood:
art does not have meanings; it has uses, and Beethoven’s Listening: Zu Audio Soul Supremes
provocative Piano Sonata 17 in d, Op.31 No.2, “Tempest,” is The microZOTL2.0 played Zu’s Soul Supreme speakers
proof. Among its range of uses: the Sonata in d can serve as with a bell-clear, pure-water transparency that gripped my
a primer in the German literary movement (ca 1770) Sturm mind and would not let go. I believe the Soul Supreme
und Drang (tempest and drive). The repeating theme of first ($4500/pair, review in progress) to be of even higher imped-
(fig.1), which, in the extreme case—into ±1.1dB with our standard simulated respectively increased them to 81.5 and
the analyzer’s 100k ohms impedance— loudspeaker (fig.5, red trace).1 82.1dB. A-weighting the measurement
resulted in overshoot and ringing with Channel separation was good, at gave further improvement, to 94.1 and
both 1kHz (fig.2) and 10kHz (fig.3) >80dB below 10kHz, but the un- 94.6dB. To my surprise, given that the
squarewaves. At the other extreme, weighted, wideband signal/noise ratio, microZOTL2.0 is powered by a 12V
with a 10 ohm load, the gray trace in measured with the inputs shorted to DC switching supply, the spectrum of
fig.1 indicates that the peak has been ground but the volume control set the low-frequency noise floor revealed
suppressed, and the 10kHz squarewave to its maximum, was disappointing, spuriae at the full-wave–rectified
has a single damped cycle of ringing at 42.9dB left and 44.1dB right, both frequency of 120Hz and its multiples
(fig.4). David Berning’s ZOTL pat- figures ref. 1V into 100k ohms. These (fig.6). Usually, this suggests that I
ent claims load-tolerant behavior for ratios are dominated by the RF leakage, have inadvertently introduced a ground
the design, but with its 2 ohm output of course, and restricting the measure- 1 See www.stereophile.com/content/real-life-
impedance, the response varied by ment bandwidth to the audioband measurements-page-2.
d d
B B
r r
A A
Hz Hz
Fig.4 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, small- Fig.5 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, frequency Fig.6 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, spectrum
signal, 10kHz squarewave into 10 ohms. response at 1V into 8 ohms (blue), simulated of 1kHz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 1V into 100k ohms
loudspeaker load (red) (1dB/vertical div.). (linear frequency scale).

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even further, but, if anything, transparency and grainlessness
were enhanced. Musical flow seemed more slippery and
alive, like a trout in a clear mountain stream.
Later, when I inserted in front of the ZOTL—which I
now used as a tubed line stage—PrimaLuna’s ProLogue
Premium, a 36Wpc tubed amplifier ($2199), the slam
pinned my psychic VU meters, but transparency and flow
weren’t diminished at all. If you’re a freak for pace, rhythm,
and timing (aren’t we all?), the Linear Tube Audio amp can
shake, boogie, and run with the best. Oh, yes—and it plays
Schubert lieder as sung by Elly Ameling, and Robert John-
son’s “Walking Blues” as performed by Paul Butterfield!
The combo of microZOTL2.0, ProLogue Premium,
and Soul Supremes played music in a uniquely natural and
lifelike manner—especially in the purity with which it repro-
duced women’s voices.
I’m just now beginning to appreciate the music of Jean-
Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). I’m not yet a fan of Italian
opera, but something about Rameau’s small French operas
seems richer, more earth-based than those Italian wedding captured days of my life, simply because the microZOTL2.0
cakes. Rameau is more holy spirit than ego—less about wouldn’t let me put the disc back in the jacket. The clean-
tenors and divas and more about worldly relations. Ra- water beauty of the microZOTL2.0’s mids and highs let me
meau’s characters dance and have real (not ersatz) feelings. fully access the intensity of joy behind Wyckoff’s singing
By no means do I pretend to understand Rameau’s creative and the humanity of Rameau’s art.
intentions, but I’ve never felt closer to them than I did with
microZOTL2.0. I got music-drunk playing excerpts from his Headphones: JH Audio Roxanne
Zoroastre: A Lyric Tragedy, with Richard Kapp conducting the Late one night after David Bowie died, I lit a red votive
Hamburg Chamber Orchestra (LP, Vox-Turnabout TV-S candle and lay on my apartment’s cold wooden floor, listen-
34435). American soprano Lou Ann Wyckoff, mezzo- ing to his final album, Blackstar (LP, ISO 88875173871). The
soprano Nancy Deering, and heroic tenor Bruce Brewer dark mysteries of his last music let me feel the man who fell
loop in the test setup, and it is fair to output voltage, due to the interaction the clipping voltage into 8 ohms drops
note that these spuriae are still at a low between the microZOTL2.0’s 2 ohm to 2.6V, which is equivalent to 0.85W.
level: –83dB and lower. However, noth- output impedance and the load imped- So while Herb Reichert found he could
ing I could do in varying the ground ance, the shape of the traces in these get acceptably loud levels in his fairly
connections between the amplifier and three graphs is identical. The THD+N small room using the microZOTL2.0 to
the test system eliminated the 120Hz- percentage is dominated by noise drive high-sensitivity, high-impedance
related spuriae. below 200mV or so, and once the dis- speakers, I wouldn’t recommend this
Where the microZOTL2.0 did prove tortion starts to rise above the noise, amplifier for driving more typical
tolerant of the load impedance was in it remains below 0.1% below 350mV speakers in large spaces.
its linearity. Figs. 7, 8, and 9 plot the before gradually rising with increas- I plotted how the THD+N percent-
percentage of THD+noise against out- ing voltage. The output stage clips age varied with frequency at a level,
put voltage into 300, 30, and 8 ohms, (defined as 1% THD+N) at 2.9V into 1V, that would be around the highest
respectively. You can see that, other 30 ohms, an impedance that is typical a user would encounter while using
than the slight reduction in maximum of low-impedance headphones, but the microZOTL2.0 as a preamplifier or
% % %
V V V
Fig.7 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, THD+N (%) Fig.8 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, THD+N (%) Fig.9 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, THD+N
vs 1kHz continuous output voltage into 300 ohms. vs 1kHz continuous output voltage into 30 ohms. (%) vs 1kHz continuous output voltage into 8 ohms.

to Earth in the room with me—together, it seemed, we were

at “the center of it all.” Blackstar is surely Bowie’s great- A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
est creation, and the darkness, the solitary candle, and the
inner-ear soulfulness of the 15-ohm Jerry Harvey Audio Analog Source Linn LP12 turntable, SME M2-9 tonearm,
Roxannes ($1299) combined to make me sob with hap- Dynavector DV-20X2L cartridge.
piness that I was able to share this world with an artist of Digital Sources Schiit Audio Bifrost D/A converter, Integra
Bowie’s magnitude. No other in-, over-, or on-ear ’phones DPS-7.2 disc player.
of my experience reproduce music in a more naturally bal- Preamplification Dynavector SUP-200 step-up transform-
anced or holistic manner than do the Roxannes. These in- er & P75 Mk.3 phono stage; Parasound Halo JC 3+ phono
ear monitors aren’t amped up in any part of the audioband. stage; PrimaLuna ProLogue Premium, Simaudio Moon Neo
They might be a smidgen rolled off in the high frequencies, 350P preamplifiers.
but who cares? With the ZOTL, the midrange was pure and Power Amplifiers Line Magnetic LM-518IA, PrimaLuna
right. With Bowie’s Blackstar, the microZOTL2.0, and the ProLogue Premium, Simaudio Moon Neo 330A.
Roxannes, there was no hi-fi, ear-fi, or super-audio in my Integrated Amplifiers Schiit Audio Ragnarok, Simaudio
experience—just shared human reverie. Moon Neo 340i.
Headphone Amplifiers Audeze Deckhard, Burson Conduc-
Headphones: AudioQuest NightHawk tor Virtuoso, Schiit Audio Asgard, Simaudio Moon Neo
Listening deeper into Blackstar, I thought, The more I use the 230HAD.
AudioQuest NightHawks, the more I recognize how uniquely natural Headphones AKG K812, Audeze EL-8, AudioQuest Night-
and organic their sound is. AudioQuest must be applauded for Hawk, JH Audio Roxanne.
hiring Skylar Gray to design these headphones, which are Loudspeakers DeVore Fidelity Orangutan O/93, Zu Audio
like no others. A semi-open-backed design with pulp-cone Soul Supreme.
drivers, these $599 dynamic headphones present recordings Cables Digital: Kimber Kable D60 Data Flex Studio. Inter-
with a bare-feet-on-black-soil naturalness that makes most connect: AudioQuest Cinnamon, Auditorium 23, Kimber
other ’phones sound mechanical. Besides their extraordi- Kable Silver Streak. Speaker: AudioQuest GO-4, Audito-
nary tonal character, the illusion of space they generate is rium 23.
totally compelling, and has a singular, almost indescribable Accessories Sound Anchor stands, Dr. Feickert Analogue
transparency. In fact, in terms of how Bowie’s intricate mas- cartridge protractor & Adjust+ software.—Herb Reichert
terpiece presents itself spatially, the NightHawks sounded
more microarticulate and properly scaled than they ever had.
With LTA’s microZOTL2.0, big was really BIG, and small delivered a special joy that’s rare in headphone listening.
was teeny-tiny. In between was a distinctively tangible space The first time I heard Blackstar, I immediately thought of
filled with fine textures and delicately rendered light and Scott Walker’s “The Electrician,” from the Walker Broth-
shadow. Because of this extraordinary space, “near and far” ers’ Nite Flights (LP, GTO MOVLP 1356)—which, I’m now
headphone amplifier. The right channel despite the decreasing linearity at the some respects, particularly in how its
(fig.10, red, magenta, gray traces) was top of the audioband seen in fig.10, linearity was not affected by the load
slightly more linear than the left (blue, an equal mix of 19 and 20kHz tones impedance. And where the micro-
cyan, green); but, as suggested by produced relatively low levels of inter- ZOTL2.0 didn’t measure so well, the
figs.7–9, though the actual THD+N was modulation products (fig.12). shortfall seemed to have been carefully
relatively high at this output level, it David Berning’s TF-10 preamplifier2 managed to have a minimal effect on
didn’t change with the load impedance. was the late J. Gordon Holt’s reference music at typical headphone-playback
The amplifier’s distortion signature for many years at the end of the 1970s, levels. —John Atkinson
was dominated by the subjectively so I was not surprised to find that 2 See www.stereophile.com/tubepreamps/611/
benign second harmonic (fig.11), and this unusual design measured well in index.html.
d d
B B
% r r
A A
Hz Hz Hz
Fig.10 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, THD+N Fig.11 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, spectrum Fig.12 Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0, HF inter-
(%) vs frequency at 1V into: 100k ohms (left of 50Hz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 300mV into 100k modulation spectrum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at 1V
channel blue, right red), 600 ohms (left cyan, right ohms (linear frequency scale). peak into 100k ohms (linear frequency scale).
magenta), 30 ohms (left green, right gray).

certain, was one of Bowie’s inspirations for the tone and Blackstar, looks forward, perhaps as far as Revelation—except
imagery of his carefully executed soliloquy. On this DDA that there’s no Whore of Babylon, or final judgment, or
reissue of the Walkers’ 1978 LP, this powerful track proved apocalypse: just peace and prophecy. Blackstar unfolds like a
that every pair of speakers and headphones sounds unsubtly mass or sacred cantata. As Bowie sang, I sensed that death
different with every amp I connect it to. In this case, the was in the room with him. No audio devices at my disposal
AudioQuest NightHawks loved—and came alive with—the revealed this specter of death better than the microZOTL2.0
microZOTL2.0, and vice versa. The strange beauty of “The and AKG K812s ($1500). As the end of the album ap-
Electrician” was mesmerizingly rendered. Its off-kilter oth- proached, the K812s spoke only truth. More than any
erworldliness was never more spine tingling. other headphone amp I have in-house, the microZOTL2.0
revealed the strikingly neutral AKGs’ basic nature: not too
Headphones: Audeze EL-8 dark or light, detailed but never etched, not bright in the
As I declared above, a given loudspeaker or pair of head- highs or soft in the lows—just plain old-school audio realism.
phones can sound radically different, depending on the True to its character, the microZOTL2.0 showed me a bit
amplifier driving them. The truth of this showed itself when more of the K812s’ soulful side, which tends to stay hidden
I connected Audeze’s EL-8 planar-magnetic headphones with anything less than the best headphone amps. In return,
($699) to the microZOTL2.0. The EL-8s usually present the AKGs showed me a bit more of the LTA’s analytical
music in what seems to me to be a more neutral or accurate nature, which can be hard to hear with anything less than
manner than the NightHawks. However, with the micro- the best headphones. This amplifier-headphone coupling
ZOTL2.0, “The Electrician,” “Blackstar,” and every other made a fine match.
recording I tried sounded excessively dry and bare-bones.
This was dumbfounding—earlier that same day, playing Ali Conclusions
Akbar Kahn’s Artistic Sound of Sarod (CD, Chhanda Dhara I am a major fan of fusion audio components. Now that LPs
SN 3386) through the Schiit Audio Asgard headphone amp are truly back, and DACs are getting smaller and improving
($249), the EL-8s sounded delightfully detailed, moist, and with extreme rapidity, components like Linear Tube Audio’s
sumptuous. Obviously, the microZOTL2.0 didn’t mate well microZOTL2.0 seem prophetic—equally at home in desktop
with the usually neutral-sounding Audezes. systems or full-scale audiophile rigs. Almost unbelievably,
the microZOTL2.0 delivered top-level sound quality as:
Headphones: AKG K812 a 1W integrated amplifier; a line stage that, because of its
It’s reasonable to say that Bob Dylan’s art looks backward, radical transparency, would hold its own in a cost-no-object
musically and spiritually—perhaps as far back as the Old system; and a headphone amplifier that could hold its own at
Testament. In contrast, David Bowie’s art, and especially thrice the price. Highly recommended times three! Q
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EQ U IPMENT R EPORT
JIM AUSTIN
Meridian Explorer2
D/A HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
I
was lying on a mattress
on the floor of an empty
apartment on Manhat-
tan’s Upper West Side.
Not as grim as it sounds—it’s
a nice apartment, and the
mattress was new, and had just
been delivered—but it was hot
(no air-conditioning), and my
family and my furniture were
still in my condo up in Maine,
and I was lonely. I needed some
cheering up. Which is how I
rationalized the decision to buy
an Explorer 2, Meridian Audio’s
tiny, inexpensive ($299) digital-
to-analog converter.
Thanks to Amazon Prime,
24 hours later I was sitting on a
newly delivered bar stool—still
no other furniture—streaming
Tidal through my new Merid-
ian DAC. (Internet access was
courtesy of the occupants of a
neighboring apartment, identity
unknown.) It was still hot, but The Explorer2 remains world needed . . . well, exploring.
the loneliness had passed, and the cheapest ticket
I was happy. Music is good for Good things in small packages
that. into the world of MQA. There’s another advantage to the Explorer 2:
And the Explorer 2 is that It’s portable. My kitchen scale says it weighs
kind of product: not quite a cup-of-coffee purchase, but an ounce and a half—1.8oz with its short mini-USB cable
$299 isn’t too much to spend to escape a temporary funk. attached. It runs off power from a computer’s USB port,
And beyond the low price, there was yet another good so you don’t have to plug it in. That makes it perfect for
reason for pulling the trigger: Master Quality Authenti- someone without furniture, since it works in Internet cafés.
cated (MQA), a new digital-audio format from MQA Ltd., Yet there’s also a line output (in addition to the headphone
that promises big improvements in sound quality in small, jack), purpose-built for connecting to a home stereo system,
streamable packages. The Explorer 2 remains, as of this writ- and ideal for a car stereo’s aux input.
ing, the cheapest ticket into the world of MQA, and that Like the original Explorer, the Explorer 2 offers asyn-
SPECIFICATIONS
Description Single-box, USB rate: 192kHz. Maximum reviewed 020003B5. Tel: (44) (0)1480-445678.
bus–powered, MQA-capable line-level output voltage: 2V Price $299. Approximate Fax: (44) (0)1480-445686.
digital/analog converter RMS. Headphone output number of dealers: 136. US distributor: MAI,
and headphone amplifier. impedance: 0.47 ohm.. Warranty: 2 years parts & 351 Thornton Road #108,
Input: mini USB-B. Output: Dimensions 4" (102mm) L labor. Lithia Springs, GA 30122.
line-level and headphone via by 1.25" (32mm) W by 0.7" Manufacturer Meridian Tel: (404) 344-7111.
separate 3.5mm minijacks. (18mm) D. Weight: 1.76oz Audio Ltd., Latham Road, Web:
Maximum word length: 24 (50gm). Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire www.meridian-audio.com.
bits. Maximum sampling Serial number of unit PE29 6YE, England, UK.

chronous USB, and decodes PCM files
up to 24 bits and 192kHz. It looks just
like its predecessor, which was reviewed
by Art Dudley in in the September 2013
issue.1 The only visible differences are the
superscript 2 in the name, the absence of
a red LED shining from the line-out port
(gone is the original Explorer’s TosLink
output), and a new light that glows blue or
green when an MQA file is playing: “The
LED glows green to indicate that the unit The Explorer2’s those in the original.
is decoding and playing an MQA stream analog audio
or file, and that the sound is identical to Listening 1: Explorer2
that encoded,” according to the company’s components are I listened mainly through my Sennheiser
website. “It glows blue to indicate it is the same as those HD 650 headphones, as well as through my
playing an MQA Studio file—an artist/ home system and my JH Audio JH-16 in-ear
producer-approved studio release.” in the original. monitors. For comparisons (see below), I
Inside, the changes are substantial, matched levels in a kludgy way: I put my
especially on the digital side. There’s “a much more power- RadioShack sound-level meter between the Sennheisers’
ful (XMOS) processor at the heart of the Explorer 2,” says earcups.2
Meridian’s Jason Randall, the DAC’s principal engineer. The When I first plugged in the Explorer 2 and started listen-
original Explorer employed a minimum-phase reconstruc- ing, I worried that it couldn’t play loud enough. It was
tion filter probably native to the Texas Instruments DAC plenty loud with most headphones and most recordings, and
chip used. The added processing power allows the Explorer 2 in quiet environments; but for the best recordings, which
to upsample lower-frequency inputs to 176.4 or 192kHz, tend to have many quiet passages and lower average volume
and to use a filter of Meridian’s design. And it allows the levels, the maximum volume through my HD 650s was
new Explorer to decode those MQA files. probably too low. Then, in February, there came a firmware
The headphone output of the earliest versions of the update—subsequent to which the maximum volume was
original Explorer had an unusually high output impedance; much louder. Problem solved (and isn’t it cool that such a
an early design revision lowered this to an acceptable 5.25
1 See www.stereophile.com/content/meridian-explorer-usb-da-processorhead-
ohms. The Explorer 2’s headphone output impedance is phone-amplifier.
lower still: a claimed 0.47 ohm. Otherwise, Randall says, 2 Using Roon, I was able to define different zones for each converter and set dif-
the Explorer 2’s analog audio components are the same as ferent volume levels for each. Very convenient.
MEASUREMENTS
I
measured the Meridian Ex- what I describe here is the Explorer’s taken with the computer’s volume
plorer2 with my Audio Preci- performance from its line output; I control set to –4dB to avoid wave-
sion SYS2722 system (see the comment on the headphone output form clipping. While the line output
January 2008 “As We See It,” only when it differed. I also comment preserved absolute polarity (ie, was
http://tinyurl.com/4ffpve4). Source on the Explorer2’s measurements only non-inverting), the headphone output
materials were WAV and AIFF test- when they differ from the original inverted absolute polarity. Like the first
tone files, played with Pure Music Explorer’s. (You can find the original Explorer, the line output impedance
3.0 on my MacBook Pro running on measurements online.1) was a fairly high 465 ohms at low and
battery power. As with the original The maximum output level at 1kHz middle frequencies, dropping slightly to
Explorer, I performed a complete set of was very similar to the original’s, at 456 ohms at the top of the audioband,
measurements from both the line-level 2.12V from the line output and 1.85V which is why this jack should not be
and headphone outputs, but most of from the headphone jack, the latter used to drive headphones. As claimed
by Meridian, the headphone output im-
pedance was lower than the original’s,
at <1 ohm at all audio frequencies.
The original Explorer’s impulse
response with 44.1kHz data (fig.1)
V V
reveals the reconstruction filter to be
a minimum-phase type, with all the
ringing occurring after the impulse.
The new version’s impulse response
(fig.2) is also typical of a minimum-
sec sec phase low-pass filter, but with fewer
coefficients than the original’s. The
Fig.1 Meridian Explorer, line output, impulse Fig.2 Meridian Explorer2, line output, impulse
response (one sample at 0dBFS, 44.1kHz sampling, response (one sample at 0dBFS, 44.1kHz sampling,
4ms time window). 4ms time window). 1 See http://tinyurl.com/j6vjxx2.

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MERIDIAN EXPLORER2
thing can be done?). One more caveat applies to both Groove and Explorer 2:
With non-MQA music, the Explorer 2 was very pleasant There’s no sanctioned way to use either with your iPod,
to listen to. It conveyed plenty of information in a relaxed iPad, or other handheld device, though I’ve heard there are
way, which to me is important. It always worked, and it workarounds.4 These DACs are made to be used with a
always made nice music. It was a big step up from the computer.
headphone jack of my MacBook Pro. Though the sound
was a bit soft and rounded compared to that of much more Intermission: MQA
expensive converters, it was good enough for an excellent The Explorer 2 is an easy purchase, but what makes it a
home system. compelling value is its ability to fully decode MQA files.
MQA is the result of a rethinking of audio principles by
Listening 2: the Groove Meridian’s co-founder Bob Stuart and others, in the light of
An obvious peer of the Explorer 2 is the Apogee Electronics recent insights from neuroscience into how human hearing
Groove, which Jon Iverson reviewed in the December 2015 works. MQA takes the focus off sampling frequency and the
issue.3 JA thinks that the Groove sets the standard for sound frequency domain and puts it on the time domain, where
quality for its price point of $295, and sent it along to me to music lives. MQA’s main objective is to avoid and repair the
compare with the Meridian. blurring, or time smearing, that occurs every time a con-
Physically, the Explorer 2 and the Groove are somewhat ventionally designed low-pass (especially brick-wall) filter
different: the Meridian is lightweight, sleek, and elegant; is employed in the recording and/or playback chains. MQA
the Apogee, though approximately the same in weight, has uses knowledge of the specific digital converters involved in
a chunkier appearance and feel. I prefer that quality of the that chain to restore timing information so that the temporal
Apogee—and its rubber base, and its large, rubber volume resolution is much better than even in high-frequency, high-
buttons. bit-rate audio files.
Despite its traditional linear filter, I found the Groove’s MQA also uses a clever approach to nondestructive com-
sound similar to the Explorer 2’s: a little punchier, maybe, pression (in interviews, Stuart has used the phrase analog-loss-
and a little less smooth. The Groove, however, lacks a line less) in which timing-relevant data from the higher sampling
output (though you can use it with your home system via
the headphone output and a stereo miniplug-to-RCA cable). 3 See www.stereophile.com/content/apogee-electronics-groove-da-headphone-
amplifier-measurements.
Another disadvantage: Apogee’s Constant Current Drive
4 Another small problem the two DACs share: Because of the orientation of the
technology “may result in uneven frequency response when USB port and the way USB cables are made, when you connect the short USB
used with certain models” of in-ear monitors that have mul- cable to a Mac laptop and to the Groove or the Explorer2, the DAC tends to flip
upside down. This happens more with the Explorer2 because it comes with a
tiple balanced-armature drivers, Apogee says on its website. shorter cable, but it’s more of a problem when it happens with the Groove, with
It sounded fine with my JH-16s, but your mileage may vary. its rubber base and control buttons on top.
red and magenta traces in fig.3, taken by only 16dB compared with the 55dB with the combined waveform with
with 44.1kHz-sampled white noise, of the original Explorer (fig.3, blue and an equal-level pair of tones at 19 and
reveal the filter to roll off sharply above cyan traces). Note, by the way, that I 20kHz peaking at –3dBFS rather than
the baseband.2 The new sample’s reduced the signal levels used to pro- 0dBFS. The Explorer shows only mild
reconstruction filter, however, has a duce fig.4 by 1dB compared with those rejection of the imaging products at
much slower rolloff, with its first null in fig.3. This is because the Explorer2’s 24.1 and 25.1kHz, though actual inter-
at the sample rate of 44.1kHz (fig.4, line output was beginning to clip with modulation products are low in level.
red and magenta traces), which means the 19.1kHz tone at 0dBFS (but not with It looks as if the Explorer2 sacrifices a
that the 25kHz aliasing product of a a 1Hz tone at 0dBFS). little bit of linearity with the rare, full-
44.1kHz-sampled tone at 19.1kHz (fig.4, For the same reason, I tested for 2 My thanks to Jürgen Reis, of MBL, for suggesting
blue and cyan traces) is suppressed high-frequency intermodulation (fig.5) this test to me.
d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A
Hz Hz Hz
Fig.3 Meridian Explorer, line output, wideband Fig.4 Meridian Explorer2, line output, wideband Fig.5 Meridian Explorer2, line output, HF inter-
spectrum of white noise at –4dBFS (left channel spectrum of white noise at –5dBFS (left channel modulation spectrum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at
red, right magenta) and 19.1kHz tone at 0dBFS (left red, right magenta) and 19.1kHz tone at –1dBFS (left –3dBFS into 100k ohms, 44.1kHz data (left channel
blue, right cyan), with data sampled at 44.1kHz blue, right cyan), with data sampled at 44.1kHz blue, right red; linear frequency scale).
(20dB/vertical div.). (20dB/vertical div.).

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MERIDIAN EXPLORER2
frequencies—including the range above the range of human gushing.7 A few mildly critical perspectives have appeared,
hearing, where music still has energy—are folded back into a couple from notable experts, but the number of critics is
the first 44,100 samples and reversibly buried below the small.
noise floor. In this way, MQA claims to deliver music with After months of teasing, MQA escaped the laboratory
studio-master quality in packages small enough to conve- in early February via a firmware update for several Merid-
niently download and stream, and in a form its exponents ian processors, including the Explorer 2. I downloaded and
say sounds better than a CD even if you don’t have an MQA installed the update—it was easy and took moments—and
decoder. hunted up a handful of sample recordings. Bob Stuart and
If MQA works as its designers claim, the only apparent the MQA folks provided a Dropbox full, and I downloaded
casualty is a few low bits in the 24-bit/44.1kHz half a dozen or so interesting
file, well below real-world noise floors, and some I was struck by a but unfamiliar albums from
supersonic musical content, which is retained but at the Norwegian record label 2L,
lower resolution. There is, perhaps, some legiti- remarkable sense which offers its entire catalog
mate cause for skepticism: MQA compression can of intimacy, a close in MQA and a range of other
seem almost magical, claiming that even DXD formats, ranging up to DXD
files—32/384—can be compressed to 24/44.1 while
connection to the (32/384 PCM) and double-
sounding better than the original high-resolution solo instrument. rate DSD.
files. Nevertheless, the literature available so far The first recording that
about MQA—in particular at the MQA website (www.mqa. made the little light on my Explorer 2 turn blue—indicating
co.uk), in a “Perspective” piece in the Journal of the Audio that an MQA Studio file is playing—was Sally Beamish’s
Engineering Society,5 and in a paper presented at the 2014 AES Under the Wing of the Rock, with viola soloist Soon-Mi Chung,
Convention6 —convinces me that MQA is a real and serious and Oyvind Bjora conducting the Oslo Camerata (SACD/
technology. CD, 2L-119-SACD). Listening through my Sennheiser HD
650 headphones and then my home system, I was struck
Listening 3: Explorer2 with MQA by a remarkable sense of intimacy, a close connection to
Ultimately, though, the proof is in the listening. MQA has
been demonstrated at audio shows for a couple of years 5 See www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=18046.
now, and the audiophile press has been enthusiastic. Several 6 See www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17501.
Stereophile writers have attended demos and come away 7 See www.stereophile.com/content/mqas-sound-convinces-hardened-showgoers.
scale, high-frequency signals in order ing the signal level by 2dB, which is still traces) and 24 bits (blue, red). The
to maximize resolution, presumably to much higher than the volume control spectral line at 1kHz peaks at exactly
optimize its dynamic range window for would be used in practice, eliminated –90dBFS, implying minimal linearity er-
MQA playback. almost all the higher-order harmonics, ror. The 16-bit noise floor in this graph
I mentioned earlier that the Ex- and the second harmonic is now the is actually the spectrum of the dither
plorer2’s headphone output clipped highest in level at a low –80dB (0.01%, used to encode the data. With 24-bit
with settings of the host computer’s fig.7). data, the noise floor drops by 16dB or
volume control greater than –4dB. As with the original Explorer, the so, suggesting resolution approaching
That was into a high load impedance of Explorer 2 offers superb resolution, as 19 bits—which is excellent, considering
100k ohms. Tested into a lower load of it should given the need to be able to that the Explorer2 is powered by the
300 ohms, the Explorer 2’s headphone decode high-resolution MQA files. The host computer’s 5V USB bus.
output is on the verge of clipping at traces in fig.8 were taken with dithered Like its predecessor, Meridian’s
that level, revealed by the picket fence data representing a 1kHz tone with Explorer2 offers superb measured
of high-order harmonics (fig.6). Reduc- word lengths of 16 bits (cyan, magenta performance. —John Atkinson
d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A
Hz Hz Hz
Fig.6 Meridian Explorer2, headphone output, Fig.7 Meridian Explorer2, headphone output, Fig.8 Meridian Explorer2, line output, spectrum
volume control –4dB, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave, volume control –6dB, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave, with noise and spuriae of dithered 1kHz tone at
DC–10kHz, at 0dBFS into 300 ohms (left channel DC–10kHz, at 0dBFS into 300 ohms (left channel –90dBFS with: 16-bit data (left channel cyan, right
blue, right red; linear frequency scale). blue, right red; linear frequency scale). magenta), 24-bit data (left blue, right red) (20dB/
vertical div.).

MERIDIAN EXPLORER2
the solo instrument. A well-played viola—a rare enough 2m from instrument to mike?
thing—produces a satisfying buzz rich in wood and rosin; on “That sounds about right.”
this recording, Chung’s viola seemed to be vibrating inside I told him that, with MQA, it sounded much closer.
my own brain, and not just when I was using headphones. It “Yes, that’s what the deblur process of MQA does.”
was an auspicious debut. For all the discussion of jitter over the last two decades—
Several weeks later, long after that first impression of and all the discussion of minimum-phase and apodizing
MQA, I researched the manner in which Under the Wing filters—little has been written about what timing errors sound
of the Rock had been recorded. This proved easy—there’s like and how they affect our perception of music. Here was
a photo from the recording session on 2L’s website,8 and an expert with wide experience doing exactly that. I kept
Morten Lindberg, 2L’s recording engineer, is a Facebook the conversation going.
friend. Soon-Mi Chung stands on a platform maybe 30" “Our perception of time smear is very similar to how
high, her viola tucked under her chin. Fifteen other string our mind deals with reverb,” Lindberg told me. Time
players surround her, sitting in chairs on the floor. An array smear in digital recordings—the cumulative effect of all
of microphones is centered a few feet in front of Chung, those low-pass filters—creates a sort of unintentional reverb,
just a little higher than her head. The distance between her obscuring detail in time and space. This, he emphasized, is
instrument and the closest mike looks to be about 6', maybe more aural analogy than precise technical parallel: “Don’t
a bit more. I asked Lindberg to confirm the distance: about take these analogies too literally, as the converter blur is in
MORE ON MQA the baseband rate of 44.1 or 48kHz, the with all the implications for piracy that
information in the one, two, or three that implies. Instead, they are selling
Jim Austin briefly discusses MQA in ultrasonic octaves can be encoded and something that might well sound identi-
the body of this review, but a more packed below the music’s baseband cal to the master, but doesn’t allow the
complete description of MQA can be noise floor in a 24-bit container. (Bob master to be re-created.
found in an article posted on Stereo- Stuart says the buried data, which The only way of testing MQA’s time-
phile’s website at the end of 2014.1 are encoded to resemble noise and domain correction is through listen-
MQA involves two fundamental con- are uncorrelated with the music, lie ing, so I sent Bob Stuart the 24/88.2
cepts, discussed in a paper presented beneath the analog signal’s noise floor.) masters of some of my recordings,
to the Audio Engineering Society in This “audio origami” results in a much for him to produce MQA versions. I
October 2014,2 the first responsible for smaller file size than the hi-rez PCM will be reporting on the sound-quality
a potential improvement in sound qual- equivalent, yet when the file is unfolded, differences I hear between the original
ity, the second responsible for a large the resolution and bandwidth of the and MQA files in a future issue. But
reduction in the bandwidth required original file are preserved. If an MQA in the meantime, I examined the files’
for storage and streaming of high- file is played without MQA decoding properties.
resolution files: or time-domain correction, the sound The reduction in file size is sig-
kkMQA can compensate for the time- quality will be that of the baseband nificant. The 24/88.2 WAV master
domain errors of both the original A/D file—ie, the same as a CD—meaning file for my recording of the Portland
converters used to make a recording that the record company need stock State Chamber Choir’s performance
and the D/A converter used to play only a single inventory. of “Amazing Grace” is 169.5MB. The
it back. This results in the complete As well as the bandwidth benefit MQA-encoded FLAC version is just
recording/playback chain having an for streaming, there is another com- 51.5MB: 30% of the original size. For
impulse response equivalent to a few mercial benefit for the record industry reference, the 24/88.2 Apple Lossless
feet of air, and temporal resolution of with MQA that is not true of lossless version is 90.7MB, or 53.3% of the
the same form and order as that of the packing schemes such as FLAC: the original, and the version on the CD,3
temporal sensitivity of the ear-brain. record company will no longer be sell- limited to 16-bit/44.1kHz, is 55.7MB,
kkWith files sampled at 2x, 4x, or 8x ing a duplicate of their hi-rez master, or 33%. MQA, therefore, gives the
greatest reduction in file size and thus
necessary streaming bandwidth, yet po-
tentially possesses the same bandwidth
and resolution as the hi-rez original.
Does it preserve those hi-rez quali-
ties? To answer that question, I played
both the original file and the MQA file
with Audirvana running on a Mac mini
and with the Explorer2 selected as the
playback device. (Although Audirvana
reported the MQA file as a 24-bit FLAC
sampled at 44.1kHz, the Explorer2’s sec-
ond white LED illuminated to indicate
88.2kHz data, and its first LED turned
Fig.1 “Amazing Grace,” Portland State Chamber
Choir, 24/88.2 WAV file, spectral analysis of
complete track (left top, right bottom).

MERIDIAN EXPLORER2
the microseconds and early reflections of a reverb is in the almost exaggerated texture and timbre (exaggerated because
milliseconds. But the modeling and effects on our auditory recordings rarely capture it, and we rarely sit close enough to
perceptions are comparable.” hear it in concert)—is apparently just what one would expect
What about pre-ringing—in which, because of the digital MQA’s technical advantages to convey. As it happens, it’s
filters used in some converters, some of the ringing comes precisely those elements of the sound—the buzz, the rosin,
before the actual sound? What does that sound like? the wood—that I most love about music. For me, a well-
“In the microseconds, you can’t really identify it as an recorded cello is like a massage.
independent component,” Lindberg replied. “It just sounds Okay, maybe the marketing of MQA—those videos of
like a bad converter, smearing the image.” pretty young people in the throes of passionate listening—is
At this time scale, then, ringing is ringing—except that, a bit over the top.9 And it’s possible that, as I listen more,
because it’s unnatural, the effect of pre-ringing is greater MQA’s appeal will fade. Maybe I’ll notice some annoying
than you’d expect from its time scale of just a few microsec- artifact, or those favorable impressions from my first several
onds. All ringing has a reverb-like effect on recorded sound, weeks of listening won’t be borne out over time. I don’t
Lindberg suggested, but pre-ringing has more.
8 See www.2l.no/media/2L-119_session-photos-5.jpg.
Lindberg’s observations corroborated what I’d heard
9 The MQA folks assure me that those videos are real. Watch singer-songwriter
weeks earlier from the Explorer2 and MQA, and have been Amy Duncan listening to the MQA version of her new album at www.youtube.
hearing ever since: That sense of intimacy and closeness—of com/watch?v=NI8mBmpq_vQ&feature=youtu.be.
green to indicate MQA encoding; with overlaid by the spectra of the MQA this time covering a broader bandwidth
actual artist/producer authentication, it FLAC file decoded by the Meridian than in fig.2, but again peaking between
would turn blue.) I recorded the analog Explorer2 (green and gray traces), in- 20 and 22kHz.
line output of the Explorer2 with a 24- dicating that the MQA encode/decode This behavior with undecoded MQA
bit Ayre Acoustics QA-9 A/D converter process does accurately preserve the data is very similar to what happens
so I could compare the frequency- frequency-domain characteristics of when a 24-bit file is decimated to 16
domain properties of the decoded files the original hi-rez file up to the Nyquist bits using the POW-R narrowband
with those of the originals using Adobe frequency of 44.1kHz, despite the base- Nyquist dithering scheme. Provided
Audition’s FFT engine. I also recorded band lossless-encoded file being less that MQA’s encoding of the super-base-
the analog output of the undecoded than one-third its size. band information results in data that
MQA files played back with our review The cyan and red traces in fig.2 were resemble random noise components
sample of the original Explorer. taken with the original Meridian Explor- that are not correlated with the musical
Fig.1 shows a spectral analysis of the er being fed with the MQA FLAC file. It information, therefore, playback of a
entire “Amazing Grace” 24/88.2 mas- can’t unpack the MQA data, of course, 24-bit MQA-encoded file on a non-
ter file with the levels plotted in white so plays the file as a 24/44.1 file. The MQA D/A converter should be benign.
(highest) through yellow, red, magenta, traces overlay the WAV and MQA spec- This is very much a preliminary
and blue. It is difficult to see at the scale tra up to 12kHz, above which the noise report, but it suggests that the “audio
this graph is printed, but the spectrum floor starts to rise, peaking between 20 origami” aspect of MQA does work as
does reveal content extending to 27kHz and 22kHz before being rolled off by the advertised, folding super-baseband
or so at the musical climaxes. This Explorer’s reconstruction filter. There is content under the recording’s analog
content would, of course, be eliminated another small peak evident just below noise floor to achieve a dramatic reduc-
when the file was converted to 44.1kHz 44.1kHz. Fig.3 compares a spectral anal- tion in file size/streaming bandwidth.
for release on CD. ysis of the hi-rez WAV file’s noise floor4 There is no such thing as a free lunch,
Fig.2 shows a more conventional played on the Explorer2 with that of of course, and the tradeoff is that a
spectral plot for the track as a whole. the undecoded MQA file played on the decoded MQA recording is basically
The spectra of the original WAV file original Explorer. Again, the undecoded limited to an effective resolution of
(blue and magenta traces) are exactly noise floor starts to rise in the treble, less than 24 bits. But D/A converters
offering 19 bits’ worth of resolution or
more are rare, in my experience, and
what might be at most a theoretical loss
of resolution may well be outweighed
by MQA’s time-domain correction. And
that brings us back to listening.
dBFS
dBFS
—John Atkinson
1 See http://tinyurl.com/osrkpyh.
2 See Stuart, J. Robert, and Craven, Peter, “A Hier-
Frequency in Hz Frequency in Hz archical Approach to Archiving and Distribution,”
www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=17501.
Fig.2 “Amazing Grace,” complete track, spectrum Fig.3 “Amazing Grace,” noise floor, spectrum of 3 Into Unknown Worlds; see www.psuchamberchoir.
of original WAV file played on Meridian Explorer2 original WAV file played by the Explorer2 (left com/buy-our-cds.html.
(left channel blue, right magenta); MQA FLAC file channel blue, right red) and of MQA FLAC file 4 I used “Amazing Grace” for this report as it is one
decoded by the Explorer2 (left green, right gray); played without decoding by the original Explorer of the quietest recordings I have engineered. Its
MQA FLAC file played without decoding by the (left green, right, gray) (10dB/vertical div.). noise floor has basically a red spectrum, dominated
original Explorer (left cyan, right, red) (10dB/verti- by environmental noise at low frequencies and tilted
cal div.). down at high frequencies.

MERIDIAN EXPLORER2
expect that, though. For now, MQA has me excited about

the future of recorded music. A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
Oh, right—that component I was reviewing . . . Digital Sources MacBook Pro computer (early 2015);
Leave MQA out of the mix, and the Meridian Explorer2 is Benchmark DAC 1, PS Audio DirectStream DACs; Apogee
a fun, capable audio device at a cost that audiophiles—and Groove, Meridian Explorer USB DACs; Ayre Acoustics CX-
anyone else who’s accustomed to audiophile prices—will 7eMP CD player.
likely find more than fair (although the price per pound, Analog Sources Thorens TD 124 turntable reconditioned
$3189.33, is higher than a piece of high-end Bluefin sashimi, by Schopper AG; Oswalds Mill Audio slate plinth; Ortofon
which the Explorer 2 somewhat resembles). But when you RMG-212 tonearm (rebuilt); Schick 12” tonearm; Ortofon
add MQA into the bargain, the value proposition changes 90th Anniversary SPU cartridge; Sony XDR-F1HD AM/
dramatically: Here’s an opportunity to get in fairly early FM/HD tuner.
on a new and exciting development in high-end audio for Preamplification Auditorium 23 standard step-up trans-
not much money. As I write this, the Explorer 2 is the only former; PS Audio NuWave Phono Converter phono stage/
MQA-capable device anywhere near its price point. analog-to-digital converter, EAR phono stage.
As winter passes and the hot season approaches, the Integrated Amplifier Leben CS-600.
question remaining about MQA—and the value of the Ex- Headphone Sennheiser HD 650, JH Audio JH-16 IEMs.
plorer 2 —is how much music will Loudspeakers DeVore Fidelity The Nine.
be available in MQA format. Even For now, Cables USB: AudioQuest Cinnamon & Carbon & Coffee,
the best new format isn’t worth MQA has me Comprehensive Connectivity Company USB2-AB-10ST.
much if the music you love can’t Interconnect: Auditorium 23, The Chord Company (UK)
be found in it. (For me, it’s worth excited about Chorus and Chameleon Silver Plus, Q Cables Tao. Speaker:
it just to play around, regardless of the future Auditorium 23. AC: Belden 14-gauge shielded, stock cords.
how it turns out.) Accessories Chilton’s Durham media console in cherry-
But things are looking promis- of recorded wood.—Jim Austin
ing. Tidal announced months music.
ago that it will start streaming
MQA sometime this year. The CEO of Atlantic Records is Spencer Chrislu, MQA’s director of content services,
enthusiastic about MQA, so hopefully we’ll at least soon see paints a rosy picture: “Labels and services are excited and
MQA versions of those great Charles Mingus records—or Ray they’re on board,” he told me in an interview. “You’ll defi-
Charles, or Coltrane, or Zeppelin, or the Modern Jazz Quartet. nitely see things happen very, very soon.” Q
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EQ U IPMENT R EPORT
JON IVERSON
Ayre Acoustics Codex

D/A HEADPHONE AMPLIFIER
I
first spied the Ayre Codex must be stood on edge, where its four put them over your ears. (My sample of
two Januarys ago, at the 2015 rubber feet reside. One benefit: you can the Codex got hot to the touch—about
Consumer Electronics Show, and use the Codex as a headphone stand, 108°—after a couple hours.)
its scrappy proletarian vibe sure knowing that your ’phones will be nice On the front, across the top, is the
made it look different from any other and toasty, all warmed up, when you Codex’s name in large white letters;
Ayre creation. On learning that below that—and featuring nota-
its price would be well under bly smaller characters—is the unit’s
$2000, I was immediately curi- multi-function display. During normal
ous what Charley Hansen and listening, the display shows the sample
his gang—makers of the $3450 rate. Then, as you turn
QB-9DSD USB digital-to-analog the large volume knob di-
converter, plus a few five-figure rectly below it, the display
amps and preamps—could cre- temporarily indicates the
ate when cost is an object. volume level in increments
Indeed, as Hansen says, “The of 1.0dB, from 0 to 100. Ev-
Codex was deliberately built ery time you power up the
to the lowest price point we’ve Ayre or insert headphone
ever done. Doing so imposes plugs in one of its jacks, the
specific constraints. No matter volume resets to a friendly
how clever one gets with the 66. That’s probably a safe,
circuitry, the fact that there sane feature, but it meant I
are cost constraints limits the had to keep returning the
ultimate performance level.” volume to my calibration
I wondered: would this target as I switched back
turn out to be trickled-down and forth for compari-
technology at its best, or would sons: other DAC volume
some essential Ayre magic be controls always stay where
lost in the process? I leave them.
The volume knob is
Description wrapped with a couple
The Codex retails for $1795 and sits of rubber rings, for good
nicely on a desk, like a thick hardback grippiness. Ayre claims
book stood on its long edge: it’s much this stepped digital control
taller than it is wide, and deeper than retains a full 24 bits of
it is tall. Other DAC–headphone amps resolution down to –60dB.
have gone this route, including Denon’s The Codex’s Pushing in the knob mutes
DA-300USB and NuForce’s Icon. volume control the Codex, and holding it
goes to 100—
But unlike DACs that can be placed here’s what it down for a couple seconds
horizontally or vertically, the Codex looks like at 88. accesses other functions:
SPECIFICATIONS
Description D/A headphone outputs: 2 single-ended (RCA 2.0V single-ended. number of dealers 42.
amplifier. Digital inputs: and 1/4" headphone jack), Dimensions 5.3" (137mm) Warranty: 5 years.
1 USB (Type B), 1 optical 2 balanced (XLR and two H by 2.1" (55mm) W by 9" Manufacturer Ayre Acous-
(TosLink). Input formats/ 3.5mm headphone jacks). (230mm) D. Weight: 3.1 lbs tics, Inc., 2300-B Central
resolutions: PCM (44.1, 48, Maximum output level: head- (1.4kg). Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301.
88.2, 96, 176.4, 192, 352.8, phone or preamp mode, 7.0V Serial number of unit Tel: (303) 442-7300.
384kHz, up to 24 bits), DSD balanced, 3.5V single-ended; reviewed 25C0205. Fax: (303) 442-7301.
(DSD64, DSD128). Analog DAC mode, 4.0V balanced, Price $1795. Approximate Web: www.ayre.com.

Incredible Sound at Any Resolution
HIGH-RES PCM, DSD OR MQA
MYTEK Brooklyn MQA DSD DAC/

Headphone Amplifier $1,995
MARANTZ HD-DAC1 DSD SONY HAP-Z1ES High-Res Digital MOON by Simaudio 230HAD DSD
DAC/Headphone Amplifier $799 Audio Player $1,999 DAC/Headphone Amplifier $1,499
MERIDIAN Explorer2 PS AUDIO PerfectWave DirectStream CAMBRIDGE AUDIO DacMagic Plus

USB DAC $299 DSD DAC $5,999 DAC/Preamplifier $499
AYRE ACOUSTICS CODEX
input and output selection, display brightness, and firmware or unbalanced—at a time. As soon as you pull the unbalanced
version. Though this is a hefty little DAC, pushing the knob headphones out, the Balanced light comes back on; when
hard enough to get it to click caused the Codex to slide a you insert the balanced headphones into the 3.5mm jacks,
bit across my desk each time. I learned to hold it down with the display flashes “BAL,” you push the volume knob once,
one hand. and you’re back in business.
You can set up the Codex to bypass its volume control for On the rear panel are both balanced (XLR) and unbal-
use as a straight DAC in a system with preamp. With the anced (RCA) audio outputs and, below those, the USB
Codex in this mode, inserting headphones will temporarily and optical inputs, as well as an IEC power connector
turn on the volume control and reset it to 66. Remove the and switch. Up to 24-bit/384kHz PCM and DSD64 and
headphones and DAC mode resumes. Very convenient. DSD128 are accommodated, which I tested via USB (I
Listening to headphones and using the output jacks at the didn’t test the optical input). Inside is ESS’s ES9018K2M
same time is not recommended. The user manual warns 32-bit DAC chip, along with the same fully balanced, zero-
that, when trying to use both, “In single-ended mode, the feedback topology used in Ayre’s R Series models.
rear-panel jacks will not output the correct signals. While But according to Charley Hansen, the key to the Codex is
this will not damage any equipment, you will not hear the the linear power supply stuffed into its little case. “Remem-
proper sound quality from your speakers in this situation.” ber that every circuit is a modulated power supply,” Hansen
Below the Volume/Select knob is a small LED that indi- told me. “When you have a fully differential balanced circuit
cates when the headphone output is configured for Balanced from input to output it makes a massive difference. We put
mode. Below that are two 3.5mm headphone jacks, which the very best power supply in the Codex that we know how
can be used for shared listening with two sets of head- to make, the AyreLock regulator that is in our Twenty series
phones—or, in Balanced mode, one jack for the left channel products. When you run balanced, it is like making the best
and one for the right. Each time you plug any headphones power supply literally 1,000 times better.”
into one of the 3.5mm jacks, the displays flashes “BAL” and A final note about the Codex’s exterior design: The case
lets you choose balanced or unbalanced operation. is quite simple and direct, and our own Michael Lavorgna
Below the smaller jacks is a regular 1⁄4" stereo jack for blames the front-panel fonts (they’re kinda large) for spoiling
unbalanced headphones. If you’ve set the 3.5mm jacks for an otherwise serviceable design. I have to agree. I wouldn’t
Balanced mode, you can still use the 1 ⁄4" jack for unbalanced say the Codex is ugly, but maybe it looks a little plain—cer-
headphones, though you can listen only to one set—balanced tainly not as stylish as Ayre’s pricier stuff. I see this as more a
MEASUREMENTS
I
measured the Ayre Acoustics was given as “Streamlength(tm).” The 1⁄ " headphone jack and the unbal-
4
Codex with my Audio Precision Codex operated in the optimal isochro- anced, rear-panel RCA jacks. Switching
SYS2722 system (see the January nous asynchronous USB mode, and the Codex on set the volume control to
2008 “As We See It,” http:// Apple’s AudioMIDI utility revealed that “66,” which was equivalent to –34dB
tinyurl.com/4ffpve4). Source materi- it accepted 24-bit integer data sampled with respect to the levels listed above.
als were WAV and AIFF test-tone files, at all rates from 44.1 to 384kHz. The maximum output levels in DAC
played on my MacBook Pro running on The volume control’s maximum mode were 4V (balanced XLRs) and
battery power with Pure Music 3.0. (I setting was “100,” and it operated in 2V (unbalanced RCAs). The output
couldn’t get the TosLink optical input accurate 1dB steps. The maximum impedance was 155 ohms from the
to work with S/PDIF data sourced output level at 1kHz in preamplifier balanced XLR jacks, 78 ohms from the
from an Astell&Kern AK100.1) Apple’s mode was 7.14V from the balanced unbalanced RCA jacks, 6 ohms from
USB Prober utility identified the Codex 3.5mm jacks on the front panel and the
1 The Codex manual does warn that the optical
as “Ayre USB Interface” from “Ayre balanced line-output jacks on the rear input will not be compatible with all devices, and
Acoustics,” and the serial number panel, and 3.545V from the front-panel that there is a firmware fix.
d d
B d B
r B r
r
A A
Hz Hz Hz
Fig.1 Ayre Acoustics Codex, wideband spectrum Fig.2 Ayre Acoustics Codex, frequency response Fig.3 Ayre Acoustics Codex, 24-bit data, spectrum
of white noise at –4dBFS (left channel red, right at –12dBFS into 100k ohms with data sampled of 1kHz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 0dBFS into 100k
magenta) and 19.1kHz tone at 0dBFS (left blue, at: 44.1kHz (left channel blue, right red), 96kHz ohms (left channel blue, right red; linear frequency
right cyan), with data sampled at 44.1kHz (20dB/ (left green, right gray), 192kHz (left cyan, right scale).
vertical div.). magenta), 384kHz (left blue, right red) (1dB/
vertical div.).

missed opportunity than a dud; the question is, the Audeze connectors and the Codex’s
can the Codex make up in sound quality what dual 3.5mm jacks.
it lacks in looks? A note about Ayre’s warranty: You’re
automatically covered for 90 days, but if you
Installation and setup send in the registration card and a copy of
Setup was easy, and once I got the hang of the receipt from an authorized Ayre dealer
the Volume knob/pushbutton and how the within 30 days of purchase, the warranty
balanced operation works, it all made sense. extends to five years. Don’t toss that card!
And, as noted, Ayre highly recommends using
the Codex’s Balanced mode with headphones Listening
when possible, which I was eager to put to the I began with a stroll through Pentangle’s
test. lush English meadow of music. The first in-
When using headphones or listening to my carnation of the group, formed in late 1966
main system, I primarily listened to the Codex or early 1967, created a handful of essential
with it hooked up to my MacBook via USB folky-jazzy-rocky albums featuring great
and running the Roon app. My library has files acoustic (and occasionally electric) guitar
of pretty much every sample rate and format, playing layered around Jacqui McShee’s
and the Codex properly switched on the fly— bright, clear voice. The title track of their
with never a pop or a click—and indicated the fourth album, Cruel Sister (CD, Sanctu-
result on its display. ary 634), begins with just McShee’s voice
In an effort to rack up a few hundred hours and Bert Jansch’s guitar, more voices and
of break-in before critical listening, as Ayre instruments steadily added throughout the
recommends, I left the Codex on continually track’s seven minutes. As I listened through
over the course of several weeks, and used it the Codex, everything imaged clearly from
casually with various headphones: AKG K 240, extreme left to extreme right,
Audeze LCD-X, AudioQuest NightHawk, Would this turn out wonderfully suspended in a
Grado HP1, NAD Viso HP50, and Sennheiser wide, open, dreamlike space.
Amperior. Ayre also sent a custom set of Cardas to be trickled-down First things first. Listening to
Clear balanced headphone cables, to mate with technology at its best? “Cruel Sister” with the Audeze
the balanced 3.5mm headphone jacks, sample. The red and magenta traces Ayre’s frequency response at sample
and 3 ohms from the 1⁄4” headphone in fig.1, taken with 44.1kHz-sampled rates ranging from 44.1 to 384kHz. As
jack, all figures constant across the white noise, show that this filter has expected from fig.1, the rolloff starts
audioband. (The balanced impedances a slower-than-usual rolloff above earlier than usual, the 44.1kHz re-
are twice the unbalanced values, be- half the sample rate. As a result, the sponse (left-hand blue and red traces)
cause there are now two output stages aliasing image at 25kHz of a full-scale down by 3dB at 20kHz.
in series.) All four sets of outputs tone at 19.1kHz (blue and cyan traces) Channel separation was superb, at
preserved absolute polarity (ie, were is suppressed by just 10dB, and some >120dB in both directions below 6kHz
non-inverting). higher-order images appear lower in and still >110dB at 20kHz. Spectral
All the following measurements the audioband, albeit at a very low analysis of the amplifier’s low-frequen-
were taken from the balanced head- level. Given the zero-feedback topol- cy noise floor (fig.3) revealed a very
phone output. The Codex’s impulse ogy of the Codex’s analog circuit, the low level of random noise components,
response (not shown) was typical of distortion harmonics of the 19.1kHz and while some spuriae can be seen
Ayre’s minimum-phase filter, with tone are also commendably low, at at 60Hz and its odd-order harmonics,
minimal ringing after the full-scale levels close to –90dB. Fig.2 shows the presumably due to magnetic interfer-
d d
B B
r V r
A A
Hz sec Hz
Fig.4 Ayre Acoustics Codex, spectrum with noise Fig.5 Ayre Acoustics Codex, waveform of undith- Fig.6 Ayre Acoustics Codex, 16-bit data, spectrum
and spuriae of dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS with: ered 1kHz sinewave at –90.31dBFS, 16-bit data (left of 50Hz sinewave, DC–1kHz, at 0dBFS into 100k
16-bit data (left channel cyan, right magenta), 24- channel blue, right red). ohms (left channel blue, right red; linear frequency
bit data (left blue, right red) (20dB/vertical div.). scale).

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LCD-Xes, I switched back and forth between balanced and right into the room with me. While not sounding particular-
unbalanced operation, and found, as Charley Hansen had ly real or accurate—there’s a bit too much steel to the sound
suggested, that the advantage indeed went to balanced. As I for that—these acoustic instruments emerged very alive and
ran through a selection of my standard demo cuts, I found attractive under Talmy’s guidance: his sound influenced how
that the difference was a cleaner, slightly more focused acoustic guitars would be recorded from that point on.
sound that was unforced and very natural during balanced
operation. All my other headphones mated fine with the Comparisons
Codex during unbalanced operation—but if you can, get a Talmy produced Pentangle’s second album, Sweet Child
balanced cable fitted to whatever ’phones you use, and try it. (CD, Sanctuary 354), and I used “Three Part Thing” as a
The second track on Cruel Sister is a cappella: McShee typical example of those bell-like guitars to compare the
singing “When I Was in My Prime.” In addition to the Codex with a couple other headphone DACs. I set up the
you-are-there intimacy of the studio space captured in Chord Hugo TT ($4795) and the Benchmark DAC2 HGC
the recording, with the Codex I could clearly hear an odd
artificial reverb that sat behind McShee at the center of the It was easy to listen into the sound-
stage. I could also hear the compression-pumping artifacts stage of a complicated recording
each time she takes a breath. Then there was an obvious edit
at 2:23, where they glued a different take on at the end of and pick out filigree and nuance.
the song. I realize all this is diving into audio-geek territory
(headphone listening can do that), but rarely does a DAC so ($1995), and switched back and forth after each playing of
precisely reveal the mechanics of that edit. In other words, this instrumental. Both of these DACs are more expen-
there was plenty of detail to go around, as well as the ability sive than the Codex, the Chord especially so at well more
to hear into the space with the performers. This was the than twice the price. The big caveat is that the Chord and
quality of Ayre’s QB-9 DAC that attracted me years ago, Benchmark have no balanced option for headphones, and
and it was clearly audible through the Codex. so, at first, I did these comparisons unbalanced. And since I’d
Shel Talmy’s production of early-1960s albums is noted already established that balanced operation does indeed have
for, among other things (the Kinks!), the bell-like sound of the advantage, the comparisons got more complicated when
his technique of recording acoustic guitars. With Pentangle, I included it.
this brought the guitars of Bert Jansch and John Renbourn Compared to the Hugo, with the Codex set for unbal-
ence from the power-supply trans- the third harmonic, at –60dB (0.1%), digital data, in which the clock is not
former, these are also very low in level. though some second harmonic was embedded, the Ayre Codex performed
The low level of analog noise means present, particularly in the left channel well with both 16-bit data (fig.8)
that the Codex offers close to 19-bit (fig.6). Into lower impedances, the and 24-bit data (fig.9). There was
resolution, increasing the bit depth of a third harmonic dropped a little but the just a very slight accentuation of the
dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS from 16 second and fifth rose slightly, to –75dB. sideband pair closest to the 11.025kHz
to 24 dropped the noise floor by 16dB Tested with an equal mix of tones at 19 tone with 16-bit data, and while some
(fig.4). However, while the waveform and 20kHz with the combined wave- supply-related sidebands can be seen
of an undithered tone at exactly form peaking at 0dBFS, intermodula- in both graphs, these are extremely low
–90.31dBFS was well presented, it was tion products were actually low in level, in level.
overlaid with some high-frequency but the spectrum in fig.7 is dominated As I have come to expect from the
noise (fig.5). by aliased spuriae. Ayre Acoustics design team, the Codex
At maximum level, a low-frequency Finally, although the Dunn-Miller offers excellent measured perfor-
tone was accompanied by primarily J-Test tone is not diagnostic for USB mance.—John Atkinson
d d d
B B B
r r r
A A A
Hz Hz Hz
Fig.7 Ayre Acoustics Codex, HF intermodulation Fig.8 Ayre Acoustics Codex, high-resolution jitter Fig.9 Ayre Acoustics Codex, high-resolution jitter
spectrum, DC–30kHz, 19+20kHz at 0dBFS into spectrum of analog output signal, 11.025kHz at spectrum of analog output signal, 11.025kHz at
100k ohms, 44.1kHz data (left channel blue, right –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled
red; linear frequency scale). at 229Hz: 16-bit USB data (left channel blue, at 229Hz: 24-bit USB data (left channel blue,
right red). Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; right red). Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz;
frequency range, ±3.5kHz. frequency range, ±3.5kHz.

anced operation, the sound of the latter had a bit more

edge—not brightness per se, but slightly less mellowness A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
than the Chord, with more emphasis of the sheen of the
guitar: a little extra detail, whereas the Hugo was more po- Digital Sources Apple MacBook Pro computer (2.66GHz
lite. One side effect of this extra detail was that the Codex’s Intel Core 2 Duo, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) running OS
soundstage felt wider through headphones; the Chord’s 10.10.4, Roon v.1.1 build 102, JRiver Media Center 19, iTunes
soundstage was more centered and forward in my head. In 12, Amarra Computer Music Player, VLC, Reaper 4.78,
the long run, the Chord was more relaxing to listen to, but XLD; Western Digital 2TB NAS Device; Oppo BDP-103
when I set the Codex for balanced operation and once again Universal BD player; Meridian Sooloos Digital Media
made the comparison, it seemed more of a draw. The Codex System (Control 15, QNAP TS-669 Pro NAS); Apple iPad
still soundstaged wider, and now its sound was closer to hav- Air & iPhone 6. Benchmark DAC1 USB & DAC2 HGC, Ayre
ing the Chord’s refined feel. Acoustics QB-9DSD, AudioQuest DragonFly, Chord Hugo
Unbalanced, in fact, the Ayre Codex veered closer to the TT USB DACs.
Benchmark in the detail department. The Benchmark has Preamplifier Marantz AV7005 in Pure Direct Mode.
always been a no-nonsense DAC; I found that the Codex Power Amplifiers Classé CAM 350 monoblocks (2).
further refined that approach, fleshing it out, returning a bit Loudspeakers Emotiva 5, MartinLogan Prodigy; MartinLo-
more life to the music. Where the Benchmark was a little gan BalancedForce 212 (2), Velodyne Servo-F subwoofers.
lean, the Codex seemed just right, with more meat and Headphones AKG K 240, Audeze LCD-X, AudioQuest
dynamic pulse. Through the Benchmark, acoustic guitars NightHawk, Grado HP1, NAD Viso, Sennheiser Amperior.
sounded almost too thin, and not as pleasant. The Bench- Cables Interconnect: AudioQuest Victoria (for DragonFly)
mark offers more features in terms of inputs and remote & Diamond (USB) & HD6 Carbon (S/PDIF), Cardas Clear
control—but if you don’t need those, the Ayre seems the (USB) & Neutral Reference (S/PDIF) & Clear Balanced
clear winner. (headphone), Kimber Kable (various line level), XLO (S/
PDIF) & HT Pro (line level). Speaker: Kimber Kable BiFocal
Against the QB9 DSD XL.
In my main system, the Codex hewed closer to the QB- AC Power Dedicated 40A line (amplifiers), dedicated 15A
9DSD and Chord than to the Benchmark. The Chord is so lines (digital & analog components).—Jon Iverson
musical and seductive, and both Ayres are hanging in the
same ballpark, so credit to the cheaper Codex for making
the team. and Armed Forces (PCM 24/192): the Codex revealed them
I spent an afternoon listening to the new high-definition in all their bright, sizzling glory—I could take only a minute
remastering of Gary Numan and Tubeway Army’s Replicas or two before I had to turn the volume down. In the end, I
(PCM 24/96, Beggars Banquet), which is more analog than consider this a small price to pay for a DAC that can elevate
one might suspect for an artist who clearly ended up in the great recordings to their rightful heights.
electronic category. I don’t care so much for the sound of
the more popular follow-up, The Pleasure Principle, and so Conclusions
tend to stick with this earlier album, also released in 1979. With the Codex, you get a humble-looking component for
Listening to “Me! I Disconnect from You,” I pitted the your desktop, without that flash Ayre metalwork you’ve
QB-9DSD against the Codex and switched back and forth ogled for years, at a price that’s attainable by a greater
at least a dozen times before I began to sense a bit more number of people—all while keeping the family sonic
control with the more expensive DAC. The Codex had heritage intact. In fact, if they could all come out this good,
all the attributes that first won me over several years ago, I’d encourage Hansen and company to make an entire line
when the original QB-9 landed in my system, but sounded of generic-case electronics that also sell for lighter-than-Ayre
ever so slightly looser: there was a tad less definition of the prices.
soundstage—although this didn’t affect the bottom end, or Probably the best words to describe the Codex’s aural
my system’s overall tonal balance. character are neutral and detailed—and add Control, with
No surprise, but the Ayre Codex and QB-9DSD sounded a capital C. It was easy to listen into the soundstage of a
much closer to each other than to the Chord. “Are ‘Friends’ complicated recording and pick out filigree and nuance. But
Electric?,” from Replicas, features a constant if tempo- the Codex also presented a simple, well-recorded, unaccom-
challenged acoustic drum part that, through the Chord, panied voice with ease, humanity, and that essential breath
sat farther back in the mix than it had through the Ayres. of life.
But, in fairness, all three DACs were able to reveal detail Add to that the Codex’s secret weapon: balanced opera-
galore from this analog recording and mix, and without tion for headphone listening. Unbalanced, it did fine, but the
any hardness or edge. The Hugo TT, of course, comes with Codex’s Balanced mode reminded me why I liked Antelope
more input options, fanciful packaging, and remote control, Audio’s Platinum DAC and headphone amp so much—and,
and though I might prefer it in the long run, as the price more recently, why I’ve been crazy for the Chord Hugo TT:
increases you enter the realm of diminishing returns in effortless detail that doesn’t fatigue.
sound quality. Taking into account the price difference with the QB-
A last sonic note: The one area in which the Codex did 9DSD ($3450), the Codex is the most value-packed DAC
not perform miracles was with bright or problematic record- in the Ayre Acoustics repertoire, and its modest enclosure
ings. It revealed all, and it refused to butter up dry, hard slabs hides a pyramid of technological achievement rarely avail-
of toasted music. What they mastered is what I got. Take, able at this price point. The Codex should be part of the
for example, the recent hi-def remasters of Elvis Costello’s roundup for anyone looking for a DAC under $2000—even
albums, especially the earlier ones, such as This Year’s Model if they never need its headphones options. Q

EQ U IPMENT R EPORT
BOB KATZ
PSI Audio AVAA C20

ELECTRONIC BASS TRAP
Bass—the final frontier,” declared Captain

James T. Kirk. I have no doubt: The biggest
problem in nearly every listening room is get-
ting the bass to sound right. Today, we voyage
to the frontier of bass response.
A Brief History of Time

Because my listening room is also a mastering room, it has to
be as accurate as possible (see photo on p.125). The floor is a
concrete slab, with solid-block wall construction and a cathe-
dral ceiling 23' high at the rear—there are no floor-to-ceiling
resonances. A bay window hidden behind the curtains dis-
perses the lengthwise room mode by varying it between 18'
and 20.6'. The curtains tighten the stereo image and damp
the subtle resonant
chamber that would Like all audiophiles,
otherwise color the
sound. I wanted even more
As technology has sonic perfection.
improved, the system
and treatments have gone through several iterations. At first
I placed the subwoofers physically in line with the main
speakers, and used the subs’ own built-in low-pass filters.
Then, only for the subs, I added a Meyer Sound analog
equalizer to counteract some low-frequency anomalies
while retaining the upper-frequency transparency.
Like all audiophiles, I wanted even more sonic perfec-
tion. Moving the subs to the front 1 corners improved the
bottom, but caused timing incoherence between mains and
subs. So I began to experiment with digital filtering, and system is transparent, does not detract from the warmth of
discovered AudioVero’s Acourate and AcourateConvolver my analog system, and has improved its imaging, coherence,
software products, whose inventor, Dr. Ulrich Brüggemann, depth, soundstage, purity of tone, and impact. So jump on
became one of my mentors in the room-correction field. in, the water’s fine.
Of course, I was skeptical of this new approach, and spent That being said: in principle, controlling bass frequencies
a careful year switching back and forth between my pure
1 We remind our readers that, in Stereophile parlance, the wall behind the main
analog system on its own and with the AcourateConvolver. loudspeakers is the front wall, and the wall behind the listener’s head is the rear
I became thoroughly convinced that this digital correction wall—Copy Editor.
SPECIFICATIONS
Description Active electronic H by 16.5" (424mm) W Sold distributor-direct only. Web: www.psiaudio.com.
bass trap. Construction: by 11.7" (300mm) D. Weight: Warranty: 5 years. US distributor/dealer:
MDF. One user control, 28.6 lbs (13kg). Manufacturer PSI Audio, ZenPro Audio, LLC,
required only for very Finish Black. Relec SA, Rue des 119 Towhee Circle,
reverberant rooms. Voltage: Serial numbers of units Petits-Champs 11a+b, Orangeburg, SC 29118.
115/230V, ±10% (50–60Hz). reviewed 11550002, 1400 Yverdon-les-Bains, Tel: (803) 682-1193.
Power consumption: 50W 11550003, 11550004. Switzerland. Web: www.zenproaudio.com.
maximum. Price $1999 each. Approxi- Tel: (41) (0)24-426-04-20.
Dimensions 19.9" (509mm) mate number of dealers: Fax: (41) (0)24-426-04-51.

PSI AUDIO AVAA C20
with acoustic methods introduces less corrective EQ, and is a remarkable claim—traditional traps need to be large and
offers the potential for even better sound. Serendipitously, heavy, and it’s very hard to make them frequency-selective.
in September 2014, while giving a seminar in Yverdon, To meaningfully affect a 45Hz mode, a traditional passive
Switzerland for Swiss Radio, I met Alain Roux, founder and absorber needs to be over 6' thick— 1⁄4 the wavelength of that
chief designer of high-end speaker manufacturer PSI Audio. frequency. Do these little boxes from PSI bend the laws of
He gave me a tour of his factory, including its impressive physics?
anechoic chamber, and showed me a prototype of an active Because a listening room needs to be treated for problems
bass trap he was developing and patenting: the result of at any frequencies, PSI stresses the need for supplementing
three years of R&D with academic and industrial partners. bass trapping with treatments for unwanted reflections in
PSI has been manufacturing active speakers for 25 years, the mids and highs, and optimizing decay times. Later, I’ll
and their proprietary analog technology, including phase talk in detail about my own room solutions.
compensation and adaptive output impedance, provided the
technical foundation for Roux’s bass trap, the AVAA C20, Listening
which began shipping in mid-2015. Intrigued by this devel- The AVAA C20 samples arrived with a radio-frequency re-
opment, I contacted PSI’s CEO, Roger Roschnik, and made mote control made specifically for testing purposes—it isn’t
arrangements to listen to and test four AVAA C20s. available commercially—and usable to turn off/on, from the
listening position, single or multiple traps, in any combina-
AVAA—the Final Frontier? tion: a very educational experience. The differences I heard
The AVAA C20 is a small, black, trapezoidal box that looks with and without the AVAAs educated my ears about some
like a subwoofer and costs $1999. It’s made of MDF and weaknesses of my room that I’d never noticed: It’s amazing
weighs a scant 28.6 lbs (13kg). (I can easily carry an AVAA what we can get used to, and never know how much better
C20; by contrast, a heavy, 4.25"-thick RealTraps Mondo- something can sound—until we hear it. Still, the AVAAs pol-
Trap2 requires two people to position!) It typically draws ished rather than “fixed” anything in my room, as nothing
a mere 5W, or up to 50W when working at full capacity was seriously broken to begin with. To be fair, whenever I
(exposed to 115dB SPL). The AVAA C20 can sit on the switched off the AVAA C20s, I also switched the Acourate-
floor or a shelf; the most common and efficient location is Convolver to an old filter set geared to my room with just
on the floor in a corner, where many rooms exhibit their passive MondoTraps. But can an equalizer compensate for
prime resonances (modes). room resonances and time-domain artifacts? According to
AVAA stands for Active Velocity Acoustic Absorber. The a controversial thread at Home Theater Shack,4 an equal-
principle on which the AVAA C20 works is to convert izer can correct modal problems. I agree with the argument
an incoming pressure wave into a velocity wave and thus, presented there. However, after a certain length of decay, the
effectively, absorb it. PSI calls the AVAA an anti-wall, and equalizer will be ineffective—thus a proper acoustic solution
says it provides an absorbent volume 5 to 20 times its own should perform even better.
size, depending on the wavelength encountered. To work its Traditional trapping solutions are compromised: usually,
magic, the AVAA uses pure analog technology: a complex they overdamp a room while trying to fix the bass—and
combination of a microphone, perforated membrane, veloc- ineffectively at that. The AVAA C20s set a new standard of
ity transducer, and amplifier with feedforward and feedback. excellence: most recordings I played benefited greatly, some
Unlike its competitor, the active E-Trap from Bag End only subtly—but I never heard any negative artifacts. I no
Loudspeakers,3 the AVAA doesn’t need to be tuned, and will longer felt the desire to boost the bass, because the missing
affect bass frequencies from 15 to 150Hz in proportion to frequencies had been filled in. The bass was fuller, more im-
their sound pressure level (SPL). It requires no adjustments 2 See www.stereophile.com/roomtreatments/807real/index.html.
other than proper placement. According to PSI, the AVAA 3 See www.bagend.com/applications/active-bass-trap/ and www.stereophile.com/
C20 will absorb a pressure wave at any frequency within the content/music-round-31-page-2.
range of 15–150Hz without affecting other frequencies. This 4 See www.hometheatershack.com/forums/rew-forum/7135-waterfalls.html.
Photo 1 (left) Bob Katz’s Studio A. The two MondoTraps

on the sidewalls have been removed; Fig.1 (below) Certi-
fication of a PSI Audio AVAA C20’s acoustic impedance.
In comparison, free air has a nominal acoustic impedance
of 400 N-s/m3.
MARY KENT

PSI AUDIO AVAA C20
pacting and microdynamic, each note

audible in front of a curtain of black,
presented without a smeary resonant
hangover. Without the AVAAs, music
sounded defocused. Some examples:
One of my reference recordings is
the Bombay Dub Orchestra’s “Egypt
by Air,” from my mastering of their al-
bum 3 Cities (CD, Six Degrees). More
than 75 Indian musicians participated
in this album, playing acoustic instru-
ments—plus the producers’ deep bass
synthesizer, which goes down to the
center of the earth. I once played it for Fig.2 (top) Left speaker measured with Room
brilliant engineer Bruce Swedien, who EQ Wizard, no EQ applied, SPL at 1dB/division,
frequency range of 10Hz–1kHz: no traps (black
was so impressed that he wouldn’t give trace), six RealTraps MondoTraps (blue), three
my CD back. With the AVAAs, the PSI Audio AVAA C20 traps (orange); Photo 2
ambience and depth were improved. (above) PSI Audio AVAA C20 trap in rear right
corner.
The electric bass and the deep bass
synth sounded much tighter, and bass
notes were better defined while losing I discovered a Daft Punk record that
MBL’s
no bloom or punch. A major improve- somewhat resonated at the rear wall,
ment. but with less aggressive material, this Radialstrahler…
Another reference is “Fascinat- was completely gone.
ing Rhythm,” from Dave Grusin’s One of my favorites of the albums legendary
The Gershwin Connection (CD, GRP I’ve recorded for Chesky Records is the
GRD-2005). This jazz album has a late Kenny Rankin’s Because of You (CD, performance
big, bangin’ rhythm section and bass Chesky JD63). “Erienda” should have
drum, with tight, impacting backbeats light but deep bass; with the AVAAs, since 1979.
on snare, and lots of body. It’s all David Finck’s double-bass notes were
about swinging and dynamics. When properly damped—yet without the
I switched off the AVAA C20s, I PSIs, they were sustained longer than
immediately noticed the low rhythm the sound of David’s own unamplified
resonating from the rear corners, instrument.
disturbing the clarity of the direct “Walking on Sacred Ground,” from
sound. I was amazed that I’d tuned out Janis Ian’s Breaking Silence (CD, Morgan
this problem—most of us are used to Creek 2959-20023-2), was mastered
catching some low-frequency buildup by the late and greatly missed Doug Sax
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PSI AUDIO AVAA C20
"extraordinarily
powerful...
uncolored...
natural"
- John Atkinson, Stereophile .
Photo 3 (above) Behind the curtains: AVAA C20

in center of bay window, flanked by two custom-
bach, has a warm, liquid quality and ized traps using 6" of Bonded Logic insulation.
Note Dynamat damping sheets on windows;
Reginald Veal’s deep, luscious Fender (below) the AVAA C20’s rear panel.
bass. Herlin Riley’s snare drum should
knock you in the chest. Without the
AVAAs, I could easily detect a disturb-
ing overhang in the back of the room,
and the bass, up through the midrange,
lost focus, beauty, and definition.
The JosephAudio Pulsar
“Do You Remember,” Jill Scott’s
seminal hip-hop/neo-soul hit from 15" High, 8 1/2" Wide.
Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol.1 Spectacularly Deep.
(CD, Hidden Beach 62137), was engi- Get the full story at
neered conservatively in 2000, before www.josephaudio.com
the loudness wars got out of hand.
With the AVAAs, its hip-hop bass and
kick were loud, tight, and impacting. "Devastatingly right"
Without the AVAAs, a distinct bass "The Pulsars are
overhang masked the clarity of the veritable light-sabers"
sound.
- Steven Stone, The Abso!ute Sound . .
When I was about seven, my dad
"For those of you who have
introduced me to Arthur Fiedler and
the Boston Pops. I wore down a copy dreamed of owning relatively
of Hi-Fi Fiedler (RCA Living Stereo), compact stand mount monitors
playing it on a V-M turntable and that really do convey the sense of
producing lasting memories. Fast for- Chesky’s The Body Acoustic (CD, reproducing (near) full-range bass,
ward to 2015—I discovered the album Chesky JD274), and David Crosby’s your loudspeaker
on HDtracks at 24-bit/88.2kHz and Croz (CD, Blue Castle 11421), both in has arrived!"
downloaded it fast as light. Despite the 24/96 from HDtracks. And with the - Chris Martens, The Abso!ute Sound .
peak saturation, the sound is to die for; AVAAs, Buena Vista Social Club (World
this Richard Mohr and Lewis Layton Circuit/Elektra Nonesuch), also in
production, made between 1956 and 24/96, sounded more distinct and fo- JosephAudio
1960 in Boston’s Symphony Hall, has a cused all the way up to the midrange.
glorious bloom that was enhanced by I’m hooked: The AVAA C20 is a
the AVAAs, for a fuller, warmer, more revolutionary product that puts the EFFORTLESS MUSICALITY
authentic sound. final polish on the sound of a fine EXCLUSIVE TECHNOLOGY
Other tracks exhibited similar playback system. Attention, PSI Audio: (800) 474- HIFI (4434)
improvements, including from David I’m going to have to buy these—or

“If you could significantly improve the sound of your
audio system for under $30, would you do it?”
S
ome audiophiles believe that acquiring a Most of the press reviews have commented very favor-
particular audio component will move their system ably on this aspect (actual rewards from an investment)
to a much higher level of that comes with your purchase of
performance. But should that be “…Jim’s book is one monster shortcut Get Better Sound. The reviewers
the next step? for the rest of us…if we’re serious get it, and so can you!
about this business of better sound…”
The reason I ask —Srajan Ebaen, Publisher, 6moons.com Disagree slightly
Hello. My name is Jim Smith. I really appreciate Srajan’s re-
You may know me from a few cent comments about Get Better
years ago when I imported Avant- Sound. However, I think of the
garde Acoustic loudspeakers, as manual not so much as a shortcut,
well as Audiopax and Zanden. but as a crucial—and highly af-
And you may have read my book- fordable—next step to get better
let, 31 Secrets to Better Sound. sound from any system.
Over 15,000 audiophiles received My goal is to show you how to
it. Hundreds wrote or called to greatly improve your sound, and
thank me for the big improvement how to do it without spending a
in their systems. fortune. Plus, when you do make
During that time, I visited nu- a purchase, you’ll be confident
merous audiophiles and listened that you’ve selected the very best
to their systems. In all of those component. The 202 tips in the
visits, I never encountered one GBS manual have provided the
system that was performing any- highest levels of performance
where near its potential! I know in audio systems around the
that there must be some, but I world—in systems just like yours.
certainly never encountered any.
No more secrets
Is it OK to tell the truth? Now you can use the same
Few of those systems were techniques that I used to win
performing at even half of the “Get Better Sound is the cheapest good those “Best Sound of Show” press
performance of which they were tweak you can buy for your system. comments and to receive con-
capable! And yet, the common True—and I’m not bashful about saying tinuing acclaim from my personal
denominator among their owners it. It also has the potential to be among clients for over 35 years.
was the question, “What about up- the best system investments you can For much more information,
grading to the (current rave) XYZ make, period…” including how to order your copy
component?” Clearly, they thought —Art Dudley, Stereophile of Get Better Sound, visit www.
that buying a new component— getbettersound.com. E-mail me
amplifier, CD player, etc.—was the path to audio nirvana. at jim@getbettersound.com, or call me at 770-777-2095.
But their priorities were misplaced. There was no need
to spend another dime on components until they had got- Best regards,
ten their system optimized to be able to “play the room.”
Throwing money out of the window

Jim Smith
Let’s face it. Buying a new component without getting
the performance that you ought to get from it is about the For info on more Get Better Sound services, visit www.
same as throwing money out of the window! getbettersound.com
Get Better Sound: Reference Set-up Manual, DVD, Quarter Notes, StraightTalk, RoomPlayTM Custom Voicing
Internet: www.getbettersound.com • Phone: 770-777-2095 • E-mail: jim@getbettersound.com
PSI AUDIO AVAA C20
Advancing the
else you’ll have to tear them out of my
hands!
modes, and permits comparisons of
a room with and without treatments
Science and
Measurements and Placement
installed.
Because an active bass trap shouldn’t
Efficacy of Power
Each AVAA C20 comes with an
individual certification (see fig.1)
be placed where it would interfere
with a subwoofer, I put one AVAA Conditioning
showing that it measures from 1⁄4 to 1⁄8 C20 in each rear corner, then remea-
the nominal 400 N-s/m3 impedance sured (graph not shown; see photo
of free air in the frequency range of 2). Two AVAA C20s measurably im-
interest. Translation: It’s better than air proved the three lowest modes. Then
at absorbing sound. I have no way of I added a third, at center front. This
verifying an AVAA’s effective imped- yielded my prize trace, the orange one
ance, but I can measure its effects in fig.2: the effects of three AVAAs.
on frequency response, decay time, Compare the orange (AVAA) and
distortion, and waterfall response in black (naked room) traces: They tell a
the room. dramatic story of a new technology at
One object of acoustic treatments work, with an unprecedentedly surgical There are many approaches to reducing
is to lower a room’s response peaks effect in the 20–50Hz range, which the noise associated with AC power—
and raise the dips without affect- should have a salubrious effect on the conditioner-filters, regenerators, isolation
ing anything else: a tall order. First, I sound. I foresee manufacturers toting transformers, battery inverters, and
measured my room’s response without these into boomy demo rooms at next more—and all can yield meaningful
equalization—just a crossover and time year’s Consumer Electronics Show! results. However, some of these techniques
correction implemented in Acourate- By comparison, the blue trace in also cause ringing, current compression,
and non-linear (obnoxious) distortions.
Convolver. For ease of presentation, fig.2 is the left speaker with six Real- Some cures are worse than the disease—
I measured these with Room EQ Traps MondoTraps: four behind the some are not as good as plugging straight
Wizard analysis software, with a 150ms curtains, two on the front wall. Com- into the wall.
window and psychoacoustic smooth- pare the performance: three AVAAs
Niagara Low-Z Power Noise-Dissipation
ing, the mike at the listening position. (orange trace) vs six MondoTraps (blue)
Systems address the many variables and
The black trace in fig.2 represents my vs no treatment (black). Notice that forms of interference that compromise
measurement of the “naked” room, the Mondos seem to shift the center the very foundation upon which an
without PSI AVAA C20s or my six point of some modes, while the AVAAs entire audio/video system is built. When
RealTraps MondoTraps. precisely attack them. The AVAAs power is optimized, when a system’s
To locate the resonant points in the smoothly and effectively attenuate the foundation is a Rock of Gibraltar, the
room, I played the sinewave oscillator 29Hz peak at the listening position by system is able to deliver maximum
in Room EQ Wizard, changing its fre- an amazing 2dB, which is 1.25dB better articulation and emotional stimulation.
quency by clicking on any point in the than six big Mondos. Just three AVAAs Niagara designer Garth Powell has devoted
graph (a very nice feature). This room’s have effectively flattened the 25–55Hz 20 years of intense research to furthering
problem frequencies include 29, 46, range within 1dB—a most impressive the science of AC power. His exceptional
70, 125, and 145Hz. (A dip at 125Hz performance. The AVAAs filled in the ability to apply an insatiable thirst for
is the Allison effect—ie, cancellations 45Hz dip by a significant 1.5dB, while knowledge, a musician’s deeply personal
from adjacent boundaries.) Walking six Mondos helped it by only 0.8dB. passion for music, obvious brilliance, and
many hard-won insights is clearly evident
around the room, I could easily hear The AVAAs attenuated the 70Hz peak
in the products he creates.
the maximum and minimum points. I by 1.25dB, while six Mondos attenu-
couldn’t detect any lengthwise stand- ated it by only 0.5dB. AudioQuest invites you to experience proof
ing waves—ie, any buildup between Notice how the AVAAs broadly that Garth has successfully advanced
the front and rear walls: in my room, improve the 90–110Hz range by about the art, the science, and the efficacy of
power conditioning. We believe that by
the primary modes are standing 1dB, including the dip near 120Hz, adding a Niagara 7000 or Niagara 1000
waves along the diagonals. The 29Hz which the Mondos barely touched— to your system, you’ll experience clarity,
sinewave built up in the corners and although the Mondos did fill in the dimensionality, frequency extension,
at the listening position. The 46Hz hole between 150 and 180Hz up to dynamic contrast, and grip that your
sinewave was strong in the corners and 1dB better than did the AVAAs. And system was just waiting to reveal.
weak at the listening position (even above that, the AVAAs had barely any
Sincerely, Bill Low
when I played only the left or right effect, up to and including a 300Hz dip
channel, I could hear the 46Hz reso- that the Mondos improved by a subtle
nance in all four corners). The 70Hz 0.5dB; the AVAAs were completely in-
mode built up at the front bay window effective, as this is an octave above their
and in the corners. The 145Hz mode stated range of operation. That said, a
manifested primarily as a resonance at dip at about 550Hz was worsened by
the center front, near the floor. the Mondos, by a significant 1.25dB,
Thus it was easy to find candidate while the AVAAs filled it in by about
locations for the AVAAs. Keep in mind 0.8dB—even though this is far above
that a frequency-response measure- their stated range of operation. Then
ment is a small but important part of again, the Mondos improved a 725Hz
the picture. It quickly reveals the room peak that the AVAAs ignored. Trap-

PSI AUDIO AVAA C20
ping is not a win-win scenario, but the AVAAs definitely did

more overall good within their claimed range of effective- A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
ness.
In the next step, using just three AVAAs, I measured and Digital Sources DAC: 8-channel Cranesong Avocet moni-
linearized using Acourate and AcourateConvolver. A first tor controller for 5.1-channel surround plus stereo bass.
listen to some reference recordings revealed that removing Power Amplifiers Lipinski Sound Mono Block L-301V.
the six MondoTraps had done wonders for the mids and Speakers Revel Ultima Gem2.
highs, opening and livening up the sound in a mostly good Subwoofers JL Audio Fathom f112 (stereo pair), each pow-
way. But I felt that the bass and low mids were now a bit too ered by dedicated 20 amp line, permitting 1500Wpc bass
resonant, thickening the sound and making individual notes peaks with no power sag.
harder to distinguish. So I installed two customized passive Cables Interconnect (analog): Mogami low-capacitance
traps, standing vertically in the bay window behind the OFC (balanced AES/EBU). Speaker: Mogami eight-con-
curtains (photo 3). ductor OFC, doubled 14 AWG, equivalent to 8 gauge.
What to do with the fourth AVAA C20? Placing it at the Accessories Surge-X series protectors with Surge-X RFI/
center rear subtly improved some modes, but worsened EMI filters. RealTraps MondoTraps, Sonex One acous-
the modes at 30 and 70Hz. Moving it to the center front, tic panels, AudioVero Acourate & AcourateConvolver
stacked atop the one already there, helped some modes software, Room EQ Wizard analysis software, dedicated
by a subtle 0.5dB without measurably or audibly hurting 230V/100 amp power service, central-point grounding,
anything else. After listening to some more music, I decided 115V/20 amp hospital-grade isolated ground outlets.
that four AVAAs plus MondoTraps overdamped the room: Listening Room 18'–20' 7" (5.5–6.3m) L by 14' (4.3m) W
it’s great to have tight, even bass, but if it doesn’t bloom cor- by 12' (3.6m) H in front, rising to 23' (7m) in rear. Volume:
rectly, it must be wrong. Three AVAA C20s were perfect for 4536ft3 (128m3).—Bob Katz
this room. (That said, after further listening, I realized that
the upper mids weren’t well defined—some slap echo in the
corners was reducing the definition. So I reinstated the two hard Sonex panels to remove some sidewall flutter echo and
MondoTraps on the front walls, visible in photo 1.) diffuse rear-wall reflections; and room correction (digital
EQ, time correction, crossover) by AcourateConvolver. Pas-
Conclusions sive traps 4" to 6" thick can help the mids and, to some de-
The ultimate solution was a combination of three AVAAs gree, the bass, but too many can overdamp the upper mids
and four PassiveTraps instead of the previous six. Addition- and highs and make the system sound dead. PSI Audio’s
ally, my room benefitted from: curtains; judiciously placed AVAA C20s helped me avoid that, um, trap. Q
Real High Fidelity.

Balance: /'ba-l n(t)s/verb, adj. : mystical state of perfect harmony
e
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CLASSICAL
ROCK / POP
JAZZ
RECORD REVIEWS
I
t may have started back in EDITOR’S PICK which Spalding’s voice flutters in
2011, when the crowd at the and out and around the patterns set
Grammy Awards let out a col- RECORDING up by background singers King and
lective “Who?” as Esperanza
Spalding was named Best New Art-
OF THE MONTH Emily Elbert. In “Funk the Fear,”
her bass playing gets down and very
ist, an award almost everyone had funky, and assumes equal promi-
thought would go straight to Justin nence with her singing—which, in
Bieber. Spalding was the first jazz this fusion number, with Stevens
artist ever to win that award. taking the lead, is almost exclusively
The resulting notoriety took the in a high range. Another prominent
jazz bassist and singer, who’d lived echo in these Spalding originals,
almost entirely in the rather insular and the only cover on the record—
world of jazz, by surprise. In 2012 Anthony Newley’s “I Want It
she released Radio Music Society, Now,”—is the big, brash, declama-
which featured a Wayne Shorter tory singing style of the Broadway
cover. A year later she appeared on stage. Visconti’s sense of making
records by Janelle Monáe and big recordings enhances this, and
Bruno Mars. This triple threat— gives the entire project a wonderful
composer, singer, bassist—then sense of space, particularly on the
retreated a bit from the public eye superquiet, 180gm LP.
for two years to focus on creating It was inevitable that being only
this new record, which she ESPERANZA SPALDING a jazz player was too limiting for
coproduced with Tony Visconti. Emily’s D+Evolution Spalding’s multifaceted talents.
In the ten years since her first al- Concord 7238281 (LP). 2016. Esperanza
Emily’s D+Evolution is the sound of
bum, Junjo, Spalding has grown into Spalding, Tony Visconti, prods.; Kyle Hoffman, Spalding reveling in her artistic free-
a player and songwriter who does Tim Price, engs.; Martin Cooke, Kyle McAulay, dom while still building on what has
not want her music to be confined Erin Tonkon, asst. engs.; Paul Blakemore, come before in her singular career.
to any single definition. Instead of mastering; Mario Borgatta, mix. DDA? TT: 43:41 As an outward sign of these new
becoming the great young hope PERFORMANCE freedoms, Spalding, who’s always
of jazz, she’s clearly focused on SONICS had an eye for chic style, has also as-
cutting her own trail. For her latest, sumed a new look for Emily. Once
Emily’s D+Evolution, which drew famed for her large Afro, she now
early comparisons to Monáe and in its skin, almost like a skin you’re sports tight braids, oversize glasses, and
even Prince, she’s created an alter ego making for it. . . . yellow lipstick. In a recent interview at
based on her middle name. In a recent While Emily may be Spalding’s Pitchfork.com, she told journalist Alex
interview on Lennyletter.com, she creative vessel for Emily’s D+Evolution, Frank about the new visuals:
explained to Brittany Spanos the rea- a more tangible presence is the influ- “If my face looked like this granite
son for assuming the role of someone ence of Joni Mitchell. In a tune like tabletop, I would still write and sing
other than Esperanza. “Unconditional Love,” her vocal and play the same way, and it would
“The main inspiration for the album phrasing is unmistakably reminiscent be fucking hard to get people to pay
was the emergence of Emily, of course. of Mitchell’s, including her offhand attention to me. It irks my soul from
To get into another spirit space while way with a line-ending trill. Spalding’s two sides: One, people I know who are
writing and creating has been a really singing has never been better or more fucking ingenious performers, writers,
incredible experience. Since nobody experimental. In “Ebony and Ivy,” she poets, or philosophers can’t get a gig
knows her, I felt really uninhibited to sings gorgeously alone in a lower range or a manager because they don’t look
go for things musically and lyrically before soaring through, away, and in great or have the right body or what-
and vocally. Then I tried to capture unison with Corey King and Nadia ever. And on the other side—actually it
the essence of what I understood this Washington. The vocal arrangements doesn’t bother me as much as the first—
character or this being wanted to be make this a record to savor over time— but I know I’m invisible because I’m
expressed through me. If you were an the more you listen, the more nuances just a shell that’s seen as ‘a pretty person
actor preparing for a role, I think you you hear, and Spalding’s scatting has that does something.’ That’ll change
would be able to observe and speak become very creative and rhythmi- in like 20 years, because I’m a woman,
out examples of the kinds of quality cally flawless. In the album’s opener so I’m just milking it while I’m still
that you knew were part of a character and first single, “Good Lava,” guitarist considered young and pretty. It’s weird
you were playing. You’d really want to Mathew Stevens and drummer Justin sometimes to have people not see me
allow that character to feel comfortable Tyson lay down a funky groove over or see what I do.”—Robert Baird Q

RECORD REVIEWS
CL A S S IC AL R OCK/PO P
MAHLER KING CURTIS DR. DOG

Symphony 2, arr. for piano The Complete Atco Singles The Psychedelic Swamp
four hands by Bruno Walter Real Gone Music/Rhino 6400413 (3 CDs). 2015. Epitaph/Anti- 87406-1 (LP). 2016. Dr. Dog,
King Curtis, Tom Dowd, Arif Mardin, others, orig. Nathan Sabatino, prods., engs.; Brian Lucey,
Maasa Nakazawa, Suhrud Athavale, pianos
prods.; Gordon Anderson, compilation prod.; various mastering. DDA? TT: 36:15
Naxos 8.573350 (CD). 2016. Andrea Kleibel, prod.;
engs. AAD? TT: 2:57:41 PERFORMANCE
David Mero, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 76:24
PERFORMANCE SONICS
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
SONICS
During his brief career, King Curtis For most bands, the idea of going back
None other than the great Bruno (né Curtis Ousley), who at 37 was to rework their debut record, one that
Walter is responsible for this piano stabbed to death in Manhattan, was a was never widely available and has
reduction, published, with Mahler’s saxophone colossus. As a prolific studio become a valuable artifact for devotees,
approval, the year after the orchestral ace and sideman, he played on records would seem to scream “out of ideas,”
score. The purpose of such exercises by such dissimilar luminaries as John and some of that may be at work here.
was to disseminate music that other- Lennon, Ben E. King, and Herbie The changes are fairly predictable: the
wise would have been very difficult Mann. And as bandleader, his classic arrangements are fleshed out, silliness
for the masses to hear: since most LPs include Plays the Great Memphis Hits that ceased being funny long ago (eg,
middle-class (and upward) households and Live at Fillmore West. Casio keyboards) is gone, and, happily,
owned a piano, these reductions were Curtis recorded a wealth of essential the sound is no longer lo-fi.
fascinating, entertaining, and a way singles in two stints at Atco (1958– The album’s title, another leftover
of keeping up with, er, the Mahlers 1959 and 1965–1971), as this collection from Dr. Dog’s younger days, is a bit
for anyone who lived outside a city as of “66 smokin’ r&b instrumentals”, misleading: this is not out-and-out
grand as Berlin or Vienna. full of rare singles mixes, indisput- psychedelia, but the sound of a band
Nowadays, listening to this is a ably proves. The greatest revelation is searching for the hodgepodge of pop,
stumper of sorts. It does have the how fully formed he is in his mid-20s. Beatles-meet-GBV mashup, with
advantage of presenting an aural X- Greasy and guttural, 1958’s “The Birth bits of prog rock and, yes, psychedelia
ray—one hears the bones and inner of the Blues” and “Jest Smoochin’” dashed in, that would become its trade-
workings, and we can fill in what we foreshadow the mighty blowing that mark sound. And while swamp appears
know of the work from having heard would blare from AM radios via such in three song titles, there’s no move
the orchestral version, either in person smashes as the Coasters’ “Yakety Yak” musically toward any funky, greasy
or on any one of 50 available discs. A and Aretha Franklin’s “Respect.” (As swamp sound. The obvious center-
couple of years ago, Mahler 2 expert fate would have it, Curtis’s first five piece, “Bring My Baby Back” (which
Gilbert Kaplan, with co-arranger Rob singles for Atco flopped, and he’d hone may be the reason the band decided to
Mathes, recorded his own chamber his chops as a session man.) rework this album in the first place), is
version of this work, and it was vague- Returning to Atco in 1965, Curtis now fleshed out with doubled voices,
ly silly—a miniaturization of something was reinvigorated and reinvented as a more synths in the background, and
born to be huge. frontman, and cut a string of albums a better rhythm track. Another tune
This new CD is somewhat differ- and singles, including highly stylized that benefits from a second pass is the
ent: as an historic artifact and for the covers of pop hits, from “Ode to Billie bouncy, Beatles-esque “Fire On My
Mahler obsessive, it forces one to listen Joe” to “I Was Made to Love Her.” The Back.” Any act devoted to jammy ec-
in a different way, if with overwhelm- original version of the “meet-the-band” centricities is bound to miss as much as
ing compromises: no chorus, organ, classic “Memphis Soul Stew” isn’t the it hits, and there are still plenty of half-
alto, or complement of strings. But it knockout that the later Fillmore West formed moments: “Swamp Descent”
does make one appreciate the pianists version is, but it’s tasty nonetheless. recycles a bit of “Bring My Baby Back”
and Walter, who take us through each While the later sessions, from 1969 but sounds like a rehearsal tape, though
movement almost analytically. Naka- on, aren’t as down’n’dirty as Curtis’s the snarl of saxophone skronks near
zawa and Athavale, departing from earliest work, their gumbo of jazzy the end are a nice touch. “Badvertise,”
Walter in playing his arrangement on pop soul stands the test of time. Still, with a theremin woo-wooing in the
two pianos, offer an amazing spate of it would’ve been nice to hear more background, is the sound of a young
dynamics, but Mahler the great colorist sparks squeezed out of “Whole Lotta band trying too hard. A minor work,
is rarely heard. Not a very satisfying Love” and Buddy Miles’s “Changes.” an oddity, from a band that’s become
experience. —Robert Levine —David Sokol never less than interesting. —Robert Baird

RECORD REVIEWS
as langaj. The arrangements transform guitar as it accelerates to a furious

folk into pop, presenting traditional tempo. The stomping “M’pral Domi
lyrics in sweetened settings, but the Nan Simitye” is an all-out rara assault
drums still beat out transcendent punctuated by arresting kone blasts.
grooves. “Ogou O” segues from mellow pop
The brief “Papa Loko (Se Van)” to percussive folk, and the galloping
opens the album with euphoric rara “Odan Bonswa” closes the album in
(similar to carnival) music, featur- a sugary vein. Overall, 6: Manman M
ing heavy percussion and homemade Se Ginen is galvanically rhythmic and
horns called kone. The clomping joyfully hook-heavy, if a tad too sweet
“Jije’m Byen” reprises a song once re- in spots. — Larry Birnbaum
corded by the late Haitian star Coupé
RAM Cloué, while the cantering “Koulou ROBERT’S LISTENING ROOM
6: Manman M Se Ginen Koulou” rides twining guitar vamps
Willibelle Publishing & Sales (CD). 2013. reminiscent of Congolese soukous. IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER, THESE
Andrew Weiss, prod., eng. DDD? TT: 53:10 The group’s lead singer, Lunise Morse, STUDIO RELEASES HAVE BEEN
GETTING THE MOST TIME ON MY
PERFORMANCE Richard’s wife, engagingly sings those TURNTABLE AND CD PLAYER:
SONICS two songs, but Richard himself, a half-
American former punk rocker who David Bowie
This Haitian band’s sixth album, its often sings in English, capably renders
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RECORD REVIEWS
JA ZZ
SON VOLT GEORGE COLEMAN

Trace: 20th Anniversary Edition A Master Speaks
Warner Bros./Rhino R2 552112 (2 CDs). 1995/2015. George Coleman, tenor saxophone; Mike LeDonne,
Son Volt, Brian Paulson, prods.; Jay Farrar, reissue piano; Bob Cranshaw, bass; George Coleman Jr.,
prod.; various engs. AAD? TT: 2:19:05 drums; Peter Bernstein, guitar
PERFORMANCE Smoke Sessions SSR-1603 (CD). 2016. Paul Stache,
prod.; Chris Allen, eng. DAD? TT: 66:04
SONICS
PERFORMANCE
SONICS
In the February 2012 issue, singing
the praises of Trace as a “Record to Die In jazz, it’s common for fans and even
For,” I wrote, “It’s a musical journey critics to sentimentalize octogenar-
filled with torrents of ragged, screech- ians and claim they can still play their
ing guitars leavened with melodic butts off. It is usually wishful think-
twang and that bit of innocence that ing. Not in George Coleman’s case.
comes from [Jay] Farrar’s old-soul This album cuts him no breaks. The
voice.” On further review, Trace is opener, Bronislaw Kaper’s “Invitation,”
even better than I once thought, as requires him to lavish, for 13 minutes,
this beefed-up 20th Anniversary Edition fresh variations on a song everyone has
elegantly proves. played. His upper register is clear, his
Fans of alt-country (whatever that reflexes quick as ever.
is) revere the original Trace as a corner- In 1964, Coleman was a full col-
stone of the form that took the dreams laborator with Miles Davis on one of
of the Byrds, Gram Parsons, and the the great albums of all time, My Funny
Flying Burrito Brothers into the great Valentine. But his discography as a leader
beyond. Jay Farrar’s genius sinks in on is surprisingly thin. A Master Speaks is
this treasure trove of previously unis- Coleman’s first release under his own
sued demos and live tracks. The pain, name in 20 years. After the voluminous
the joy, the grit. Every demo on disc melodic invention of “Invitation,” he
1 holds a revelation, whether Farrar’s manhandles “The Shadow of Your
jagged but lovingly pure vocal in “Live Smile,” transforming its tenderness
Free” or the unabashed pedal-steel into tough love. Pianist Mike LeDonne
drive of “Windfall.” These stripped- responds fervently, in long runs that
down versions take you into Farrar’s eventually wind back to the melody.
head as he crafted these musical gems. There is a totally credible lowdown
Then there’s disc 2, with an extraor- blues for B.B. King, and “Darn That
dinary performance at the Bottom Dream,” which shows that Coleman
Line from February 1996. With all the can sometimes soften his tone, and lin-
original songs from the then-quite-new ger. Just when you think he has nothing
Trace (missing only the cover of Ron more to prove, he hits you with the
Wood’s “Mystifies Me”), augmented album’s tour de force, an eight-minute
with six Tupelo gems (including “Ano- rendition of “These Foolish Things.”
dyne” and “Fifteen Keys”) and a test The exceptional quality of this
run of “Cemetery Savior,” we get the project carries over to the CD package.
dynamic double-wide experience of It contains a revealing interview with
hearing these songs come alive before Coleman, beautiful photographs by
a hip crowd. John Abbott, and superb sound by
Whether in demo form, in the Chris Allen.
studio, or on stage, song after song Formal acknowledgment of Cole-
morphs seamlessly into the next, man’s stature came in 2015, when the
evoking breezy nights, dusty roads, and National Endowment for the Arts
fading time. May the wind take your named him an NEA Jazz Master.
troubles away. —David Sokol —Thomas Conrad

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RECORD REVIEWS
ANDY GONZÁLEZ SCOTT REEVES JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Entre Colegas Portraits and Places
Andy González, bass; Carlos Abadie, trumpet; Scott Reeves, conductor, arr., alto flugelhorn;
Ben Lapidus, guitar, tres, chorus; David Oquendo, 20 others
guitar, vocals, snaps; Nelson González, tres; Orlando Origin 82710 (CD). 2016. Scott Reeves, prod.;
Santiago, cuatro; and others. Paul Special, eng. DDD. TT: 57:02
Truth Revolution TRR024 (CD). 2015. Carlos Abadie, PERFORMANCE
Luques Curtis, Ted Curtis, prods.; Chris Sulit, Juan
Wust, engs. DDD. TT: 50:11 SONICS
PERFORMANCE
Within the highly specialized, invalu-
SONICS
able, economically endangered disci-
pline of composing and arranging for
Andy González, brother of trum- large jazz ensemble, a new badass has
peter/percussionist Jerry González, arrived. Not that Scott Reeves is new
has played double or electric bass on to the form. His résumé includes work
countless salsa and Latin jazz sessions, for several big bands, including Dave
but has only now made his debut Liebman’s. But Portraits and Places is the
as a leader, with a release pitched debut of his own orchestra.
somewhere between the two genres. His previous recording, Shape
Unusually for this kind of album, it Shifter, was a live quintet date featur-
highlights plucked string instruments ing Reeves’s proficiency on unusual
such as the Puerto Rican cuatro and instruments, the alto flugelhorn and
Cuban tres, as well as the guitar, though alto valve trombone. Now with a
it does include the occasional trumpet. full orchestra at his disposal, he takes
González’s composition “Vieques,” originals from Shape Shifter like “The
a Puerto Rican bomba first recorded Soulful Mr. Williams” and “Last Call,”
in pure Latin-jazz style by Arturo breaks them apart, assigns pieces to
O’Farrill, is given a more folkloric sections of the band, and reassembles
treatment here with virtuosic cuatro, them into colorful collages on a large
tres, and guitar solos. His rhythmic canvas.
rendition of Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” The only tune not composed by
inspired by George Duke’s arrange- Reeves is Antonio Carlos Jobim’s
ment for the film Sister Act, features “Aquas de Marco.” It proves that an
crisp solos on trumpet, piano, bass, and entire big band can be light on its feet
tres. Erroll Garner’s “Misty” has Spanish and move with sensual grace. In fact,
lyrics written and sung by Manuel Reeves’s touch is always deft and light,
Carro. “Inspiración de Cachao,” a trib- his designs traced in fine lines. Even
ute to the late Cuban bass player Israel the complex unfolding of the most
“Cachao” López, throbs to the beat of ambitious work here, the three-part “L
Charlie Santiago’s bongos and Nicky & T Suite,” is agile.
Marrero’s timbales. Because Reeves’s charts are such
David Oquendo sings “Sabor a Mí,” finished forms, solo opportunities are
a classic bolero originally popularized concise, selective, and pivotal. Steve
by the guitar-playing Trio Los Panchos, Wilson, on soprano saxophone, spills
and González and guitarist Ben Lapi- from the tight control of “Osaka June”
dus duet on the elegantly funky “Di- in an ecstasy of free melody. In the
alysis Blues,” whose title refers to the suite’s first movement, on alto saxo-
bassist’s precarious health. The album phone, Wilson passionately “Wants
concludes with González and Curtis to Dance.” In “Last Call,” Max Seigel,
in an antic bass duet on The Addams looming large, makes you wonder why
Family theme. All in all, an excellent there are not more bass trombone solos
display of Latin and jazz musicianship, in jazz. Probably because there are not
beautifully recorded. —Larry Birnbaum more Max Seigels. —Thomas Conrad

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RECORD REVIEWS
hits that used some but not all of her

skills—it’s on the live albums, such as
the classic Live in Japan (1973), that we
hear her elastic talent in its full glory.
Vaughan had an unerring sense of
how to relate to an audience and bring
its listeners inside her music. These
tapes, from a May 31, 1978, concert
at Rosy’s Jazz Club, in New Orleans,
originally recorded for broadcast on
National Public Radio’s Jazz Alive!
series, is now available in near-com-
RENEE ROSNES SARAH VAUGHAN plete form. Vaughan is totally relaxed
Written in the Rocks Live at Rosy’s in dealing with this jazz-loving Deep
Renee Rosnes, piano; Steve Wilson, flute, soprano Resonance HCD-2017 (2 CDs). 2016. Zev Feldman, South audience: when someone in
& alto saxophones; Steve Nelson, vibraphone; Timothy Owens, prods.; Fran Gala, George Klabin, the crowd asks for Ella Fitzgerald’s
Peter Washington, bass; Bill Stewart, drums mix, restoration. AAD.? TT: 87:03
Smoke Sessions SSR-1601 (CD). 2016. Paul Stache, signature tune “A-Tisket A-Tasket,”
PERFORMANCE
prod.; Chris Allen, eng. DDD? TT: 57:02 Vaughan says, “Well, I’ll be damned,
SONICS
PERFORMANCE [he] thinks I’m Lena Horne,” then
SONICS launches impromptu into one verse
If you’re only a casual follower of Sarah of the song. Her accompanists—pianist
Pianist Renee Rosnes sets out with Vaughan’s, this recording could turn Carl Schroeder, bassist Walter Booker,
an ambitious premise on Written in you into a fanatic. Quite arguably one drummer Jimmy Cobb—stay with her
the Rocks. The main focus is a seven- of the top three female jazz singers ever, every step of the way, through “I’ll
movement suite inspired by “the Vaughan was somewhat mismanaged in Remember April” at breakneck speed,
geological record of history buried a career caught between the big-band an astonishingly virtuoso deconstruc-
deep below the earth’s crust,” to quote and pop eras of jazz. Her voice was a tion of “Fascinating Rhythm,” and
David Hajdu’s liner notes. There’s technical marvel, with operatic range, anguished, heartbreaking readings of
a difficult, superbly executed bal- deep gospel fervor, and an absolutely the show-stopping ballads “Everything
ance between heavily orchestrated fearless improvisational genius. Her Must Change,” “My Funny Valentine,”
themes and a looser, more open feel studio recordings included many pop and “Send in the Clowns.” —John Swenson
that makes the album still feel very
jazz-rooted. This is fortunate, given the
caliber of players on the date, not least
of all the powerhouse rhythm team of
bassist Peter Washington and drummer
Bill Stewart, who have an unrelenting
swing hookup and the finest grasp of
the music’s many subtleties.
This album also says much about
the evolution of Smoke Sessions
Records. Closely associated with the
jazz club Smoke, in uptown Manhat-
tan, the label has increasingly found its
own identity as a platform for top-tier
studio recordings. The sound of Written
in the Rocks, particularly the enveloping
blend of Rosnes’s piano with the vibra-
phone of Steve Nelson, is something to
treasure. Steve Wilson, appearing in six
of the nine tracks, is captured beauti-
fully on soprano and alto saxophones,
though his flute in “The KT Bound-
ary,” brings a whole other dimension
of warmth and ethereality to the work.
Two loosely related non-suite pieces
close out the record: “From Here to a
Star,” a crafty variation on Irving Ber-
lin’s “How Deep Is the Ocean” (minus
Wilson); and “Goodbye Mumbai,” a
hiccupy mid-tempo number with Wil-
son on alto, perfectly embodying the
band’s immaculate feel and palpable
conviction. —David R. Adler

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ANY CLOD CAN HAVE THE FACTS;
HAVING OPINIONS IS AN ART
MANUFACTURERS’
COMMENTS
THIS ISSUE :
Vandersteen, PBN, Marten,
Linear Tube Audio, and MQA respond
to our reviews of their products.
Vandersteen Model Seven made sure the Model Seven Mk.II, now
Mk.II & M7-HPA $62,000/pair, substantially bettered its
Editor: predecessor’s performance by improving
Reading John Atkinson’s amazing review its imaging, midrange/treble transparency
of our flagship powered-speaker system and realism, and powered-bass system.
(May 2016, p.77), we at Vandersteen Our M7-HPA meets our value com-
Audio are exceptionally pleased that JA so mitment not only in terms of its radical
prominently discussed the concept of val- minimum-path circuit design, component
ue. In spite of the advantages that flagship quality, and pure performance, but also
products have in allowing the designer by including highly advanced mechanical
to throw more money at them, in many isolation, solid-silver speaker cables, and
respects it’s more difficult to offer more state-of-the-art power-line condition- ter) with a stainless-steel “subplatter” to
real technology than the customer expects ing. These are typically à la carte items facilitate the use of any other aftermarket
at these price points than it was or is with that routinely cost customers tens of record mat. Peter Noerbaek, President
something like our legendary Model 2. thousands of dollars to achieve or acquire PBN Audio
Our previous flagship, the Model separately.
5A, certainly met this value criterion. As JA has noted here, the results Marten Coltrane 3
This was a sub-$20,000/pair speaker speak for themselves in revealing more Editor:
with a patented aerodynamic midrange about connected components and cables, Speaking for Marten and myself, we
that remains a fixture in our line today, “delicious solidity,” “high frequencies are very gratified by Michael Fremer’s
with an earlier version of our advanced seamlessly blended with their midrange,” overwhelmingly positive response to the
powered-bass system with room EQ that and “the evenness and weight of the bass- Coltrane 3 loudspeaker, summed up in
still shakes the foundation in the Model guitar lines.” the question and statement “Any good
Seven Mk.II, battery-biased crossovers, So thank you, John! We are truly for $100,000? You’d better believe it.” I
and many more advances still not found humbled, and appreciative that we’ve completely agree with his assessment of
in competing products at any price. succeeded not only in achieving the kind the C3’s best attributes: “its speed and
The original Model Seven ($48,000/ of sonic accolades reserved for the world’s responsiveness, and the unerring tuneful-
pair at its 2009 intro) leapt in price, but greatest flagships, but also in offering “su- ness and impressive vitality and clarity of
honored Richard Vandersteen’s commit- per” components that are as much a value its bottom end,” and especially with his
ment to performance- and technology- for the technology and performance account of the speaker’s ability to “get out
driven value by offering a transcendent dollar as the venerable Model 2! of the way and let the recording assert
advance in the state of the art of dynamic- Shane Buettner itself.” While this, I believe, should be the
driver performance. During the 10-year Vandersteen Audio primary requirement of a loudspeaker, it
R&D effort that delivered our (patented) is something that very, very few are actu-
carbon-clad Perfect-Piston drivers, it PBN Audio GrooveMaster ally able to do.
became apparent that this dream of truly Vintage Direct PBN-DP6 Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of
pistonic drivers without the colorations of Editor: Michael’s review is his finding that the
metals and ceramics would be achieved, Thank you, Michael Fremer, for taking Coltrane 3s can do things that his Wilson
but only at great expense. High-tensile the PBN Audio GrooveMaster Vintage XLF Alexandrias cannot. Aside from
carbon fiber is extremely expensive, Direct for a test spin. I’m very pleased describing one speaker as being more
and manufacturing these cones is an ex- that you found it to be a pleasant like a nimble sports car (the Marten,
tremely time- and labor-intensive process; experience. Also, thank you for using I gather) and the other as being more
and each and every Perfect-Piston cone the GrooveMaster Vintage Direct DP6 like a roadster, he does not specify what
is handmade in Vandersteen’s Hanford for one of your weekly radio shows these things are, but never mind. Perhaps
factory. on WFDU, the one honoring the late more worthy of attention is a fact that he
Only when it became apparent that George Martin. This was a very pleas- neglects to mention: While the Coltrane
there was no way to build a speaker ant surprise, and speaks volumes about 3s are admittedly expensive at $100,000,
around these drivers for anywhere near your confidence in the GrooveMaster the Alexandrias cost twice as much. This
the 5A’s sub-$20,000 price was RV freed turntable. is a significant difference!
as a designer to take so many of his In the review, MF mentioned that the We, and especially Leif Olofsson, the
longstanding ideas to their fullest expres- DP6 is supplied with a ribbed rubber Coltrane 3’s designer, are also extremely
sion, choosing the most exotic materials mat, and that it would be difficult to use happy with John Atkinson’s findings,
and processes, which in previous designs other mats because of the raised center especially his conclusion that while Leif’s
would have been cost prohibitive. of the platter. This was the way Denon decision to use a first-order crossover
Before succumbing to inevitable rising originally supplied the DP6000. We can, in the C3 put a large burden on him to
costs in materials, labor, transport, and at additional cost, supply the DP6 (and get everything else right, “Its measured
more, Richard and Nathan Vandersteen the DP3, which also has this raised cen- performance suggests that Leif Mårten

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MANUFACTURERS’ COMMENTS
Olofsson has done so with his Coltrane from the external switching commercial octave is at a lower level.
3.” Leif had some further comments: power supply, which is not of Berning’s The level at which MQA buries
“As Mr. Atkinson himself points out, design. Linear Tube Audio is offering a information from higher octaves is not
his way of measuring the Coltrane 3 premium linear power-supply option for predetermined; it’s responsive to the
(practical circumstances forcing him the microZOTL2.0 that is much cleaner content. However, the burying level is
to measure it that way) did not do the (for an additional $600). It should be completely stationary throughout every
speaker 100% justice. Because it is a noted that the line-frequency compo- song or work. In JA’s recording of “Amaz-
first-order-crossover design, with all nents from the commercial switcher are ing Grace,” MQA buries the top-octave
drivers connected with positive polar- at a level that would not be audible in information (as broadly white noise)
ity, the C3 will not measure very well at most circumstances. below the 20-bit level in the majority of
the shorter distance that Mr. Atkinson The microZOTL2.0 has a completely the audioband. This does not mean that
uses. Measured at a greater distance, the black background. When listening to the channel is limited to 20 bits—the
drivers will blend more properly, and will headphones with the volume control DAC still receives a 24-bit signal. It
smooth out. You can see the tendency at its maximum and no source material simply means, in this case, that MQA’s
in fig.4, the spatially averaged in-room playing, there is no sound to indicate that effective noise floor is more than 5 bits
response measurement. That the height the unit is turned on. Mark Schneider below the (minimum 15-bit) noise floor
of the measurement is equally impor- Linear Tube Audio of the original signal—a very healthy
tant is something that Mr. Atkinson also margin, and on a par with the very best
points out. MQA converters.
“It would also be very, very good if the Editor: This can be seen in fig.1, which exam-
lower-height ‘step response’ measurement Thank you for the review and the chance ines the end of the original WAV file,
could be shown in the review, since that to respond. In his “Measurements” MQA (with and without decoding), and
is more correct and shows that the C3 is sidebar to the review of the Meridian the underlying MQA channel noise in
100% time- coincident, in measurement Explorer 2, John Atkinson observed that, this recording (also with and without de-
as well as in our manufacturer’s claims. to avoid overload, the maximum input at coding).1 Also shown are reference levels
“Mr. Fremer writes that the Coltrane 19.1kHz was –1dBFS. This is correct. The for 16-, 18-, and 20-bit dither in a channel
3 needs quite a bit of power ‘to really design of the upsampling filter assumes sampled at 88.2kHz.
sing.’ That’s true, not only because of the reasonable music statistics, and its feed to In the graph, the noise-floor curves
slightly lower sensitivity compared to his the DAC cannot exceed full scale. overlay for both MQA decoded and
Wilson XLF, but also because of the C3’s In the section “More on MQA,” in Original master. We can also see that
record low distortion and extremely high fig.3, the green/gray curves show the the shaped HF noise introduced by the
dynamic capability. It can play louder observed spectrum with no decoder. The MQA encoder and “heard” without a
than most other loudspeakers without noted small rise of noise in the treble is in decoder is removed by the decoder, at
any strain or disturbing noises, and thus fact a manifestation of the (noise-shaped) which point the noise falls from purple to
can make you play music louder (ie, use MQA signaling, rather than buried high- brown. J. Robert Stuart
more power) than you usually do.” er-frequency information. This signaling MQA
Again, our thanks to Michael Fremer is at this level for wide compatibility and
1 The analysis uses 21.53Hz bins (= 44,100⁄2048 and
and John Atkinson for an extremely is completely removed by the decoder; 88,200⁄4096), giving an offset of +13.33dB with respect
gratifying review. the buried information from the higher to 1Hz.
Dan Meinwald, Proprietor,
EAR USA/Sound Advice
Leif Mårten Olofsson, Chief Designer,
Marten
Jorgen Olofsson, CEO,
Marten
Linear Tube Audio microZOTL2.0

Editor:
Thank you, Stereophile, for reviewing our
product. It is worth noting that when
using the microZOTL2.0 as a line-level
preamp, it does not include turn-on and
turn-off transient suppression. As a result,
therefore, it is wise not to connect it to
drive high-powered solid-state amplifiers,
particularly ones that are DC-coupled,
as both the speakers and the amplifier
may be damaged. The use of tube amps
following the microZOTL2.0 is expected
to be safe.
Regarding the Fig.1 Portland State
line-frequency com- Chamber Choir,
“Amazing Grace,”
ponents shown in noise-floor analysis.
fig.6, they are likely

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THERE’S ONLY TWO KINDS OF MUSIC: THE BLUES AND ZIPPETY DOO-DAH.
—TOWNES VAN ZANDT
AURAL BY ROBERT BAIRD
ROBERT
“Where is this great love for rock and roll
that existed for 50 or 60 years?”
—BILLY CORGAN
Old Age Should Burn and Rave
G
iven up on listening to new music? The afflic-
tion is common in those over 30. Staying current,
finding new music, sorting through the endless
fractured genres and subgenres—for me, it’s not
only a job but a lifestyle. Not to be overly dramatic, but
along with air and water, it’s one of the things necessary
for my continued existence. So what if, at a gig, I’m the
only fool with snow on the roof? I refuse to fossilize, stop
listening, and fall back on that most fearsome and limiting of
adult phrases: “New music sucks!”
I was delighted, last March, to find a panel discussion at
the 30th South by Southwest festival (which could now be
called SXSW Interactive . . . and, oh right, Film and Music, Too, but
that’s another story) titled “The Recording Industry Hates
Grownups.” What I assumed would be a discussion of the
way the record business today incessantly chases teens with
ever more vapid pop and hip-hop singles was actually a
scolding of those who live by the nearsighted credo, “New began listening to the stuff in the first place. Remember
music sucks!” The two-person SXSW panel—bravely led the famous bit in Annie Hall about relationships being like
by Jim Fusilli of the Wall Street Journal, accompanied by Bob a shark that must constantly move forward or die? While
Boilen of NPR—gently cajoled the over-40 crowd for not it’s been proven that sharks actually do sleep, I still believe
giving today’s music a chance. forward motion is essential when it comes to listening to as
Of course, the audience in the half-filled panel room, well as creating music. Become satisfied with the past, and,
which holds 50 seats at the Austin Convention Center, as a music fan, you’re effectively dead.
was mostly choir—they needed no preaching. Most were Later that night the subject came up again, at a seren-
long-time addicts of the magic that music, particularly when dipitous gathering of crusty music-writer dudes at the New
it’s a new sound or lyric, can provide for the heart and the West Records showcase, in Maggie Mae’s Gibson Room.
head. A string of older folks lined up in front of the mike at We discussed how, even if going out solo on cold, rainy
Q&A time to proudly attest to the fact that they actively seek nights is no longer the charming adventure it once seemed
out new records, and occasionally even go out to see live to be, soothing the soul with good new music is still a
music. Most were publicists and writers, but a smattering of worthy quest. My old friend, the long-time rock critic Kent
civilians offered some modicum of hope that not everyone Wolgamott, of Lincoln, Nebraska, completely agreed—but
over four decades old is deaf to new music. Hovering over only, he said with a smile, given some ironclad provisos: “I
all of this was the “fact” that the coming onslaught of virtual have three rules about rock bands: One, no songs over five
reality in everything will make obsolete not only audio minutes long. Two, if anyone is barefoot, I cannot watch it.
recordings, but going out to see live music at New York’s And lastly, no flutes!”
Carnegie Hall or Austin’s Continental Club. This vision of No sooner had he finished his list than Luther Dickinson,
a future filled with porn, shopping, and entertainment, all son of the late, great Jim Dickinson, came on, playing new
beamed into your empty head through goggles, elicited both music, some of it with a flute player. Despite Rule No.3,
skeptical guffaws and dreamy divination. Kent stayed and bemusedly watched, ultimately nodding his
Minding my own business, occasionally grinning wryly, head in approval. Dickinson is a superb guitar player who,
I became aware that sitting next to me was a wild-eyed, rather than just sink into the usual blues-rock bag, adds
gray-haired stranger violently nodding at much of what was different rhythms, influences, and instruments to his very
being said. Suddenly, he turned and loudly whispered to me, original music.
“Fine—stay home and listen to your Beethoven, King Crim- Later, I caught a set by Scots electronica trio Chvrches
son, or Bad Company. New music is worth hearing. It’s not (pictured above). On two very listenable and generally
as easy to find as it once was, but for God’s sake, at least well-recorded albums, the more recent being Every Open Eye
give it a try before condemning everything recorded since (2015), Iain Cook, Lauren Mayberry, and Martin Doherty
Nevermind!” With that, he was off in a frothing huff—which, have perfected a synthy pop sound, both hummable and
as much as I agreed with him, kept me from pursuing him danceable, that mixes sepia lyrics and traditional Celtic mu-
PHOTO: DANNY CLINCH
or his beliefs. This guy was all too ready to start talking and sic with slamming rhythm tracks. Mayberry’s very appealing
never stop. and deceptively strong voice is the pivot around which the
While everyone has their own motivations, the joy music swirls.
inherent in discovering new music was half the reason I Fear not the shark that swims on . . . Q

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