home entertainment 2007

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For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity to exist, a certain 

physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication. 

—Friedrich Nietzsche 

My knowledge of art history 

is limited to what I 

learned in high school 

and a few bits and pieces 

I’ve picked up since. It’s 

not much, but it’s 

enough for me to realize that there’s an 

analogy, if only a rough one, to be made 

between art and the audio hobby. 

The history of art is long and complex, 

but if you narrow the focus to the 

European tradition you can uncover a 

useful if oversimplified narrative. Up 

until the late 19th century, the artistic 

arrow pointed toward ever more naturalism. 

European artists aimed to 

achieve their artistic aims through the 

representation of people and objects in 

the most realistic manner possible. 

Then, beginning with the Impressionists, 

representation became very personal, 

colored by artists’ individual 

natures and transient emotional states. 

The shifting of art’s focus from the 

outer world to the inner psyche 

reached the point early in the 20th 

century where artists aimed to represent 

inner emotional states with no 

direct reference to the outer world. But 

before and since, most art has tried to 

combine the inner with the outer. 

There is art in designing audio 

equipment, without question. But 

audio-system design is not an art in the 

same sense as painting or music. Hi-fi 

as art, I think, is best thought of as the 

penultimate step in a collaborative act 

of creation involving composers, musicians, 

recording engineers, architects, 

electrical engineers, and discriminating 

consumers. (The ultimate step in that 

collaboration is the act—I choose the 

word carefully—of listening.) Thinking 

about our audio systems in such a context—and 

recognizing that many of the 

participants in the collaboration change 

every time you stick in a new CD—can 

help us understand just how complicated 

putting together an audio experience—and 

an audio system—really is. 

Each stage in the collaboration is complex, 

with its own subjective elements, 

and the stages are interrelated. 

AS WE SEE IT 

Jim Austin 

Intoxication, Art, & the Audio Hobby 

In the late 19th century, artists 

reached a similar conclusion about the 

nature of art—that when it comes to 

things perceived (and not measured), 

objective reality is at worst nonexistent, 

and at best unapproachable. Principled 

artists gave up on naturalism and began 

to present the world to the art-viewing 

public in novel and deeply personal 

ways. Artists began to be judged not by 

how closely their works resembled 

nature, but by how much insight they 

were able to provide into the relationship 

between perception and reality— 

and here, I believe, is the important 

analogy to audio. 

In work he did at Canada’s National 

Research Council in the 1970's and 

1980's, Floyd Toole may have done 

more than anyone else to make the 

design of loudspeakers reliable—and 

based on solid science instead of a 

flighty art. He uncovered strong correlations 

between loudspeaker measurements 

and the preferences of trained 

listeners. 1 Once they’ve learned how to 

listen properly, he found, most listeners 

like the same things in loudspeakers. In 

other words, there is, in loudspeaker 

design, something like a common reality. 

Like an 18th-century painter, Toole 

was out to discover what is universal, 

or at least general. Though his principles 

still are disregarded by a few loudspeaker 

designers, Toole gave them 

something to work with besides their 

own ears. Listener preferences and 

objective measurements were linked, 

and the correlation was strong. 

Jokes have circulated for decades in 

the hi-fi world about objectivists 

choosing mates and subjectivists choosing 

surgeons—but choosing an audio 

system is different from choosing a 

mate or a surgeon. It may be true that, 

as Wes Philips wrote in his review of 

the HeadRoom Desktop D/A headphone 

amplifier in the April 2006 

Stereophile, “Looks don’t last but cookin’ 

do,” but I think the choice of a mate 

should come mainly from the heart, and 

the choice of a surgeon mainly from 

1 Floyd E. Toole, “Loudspeaker Measurements and Their 

Relationship to Listener Preferences,” Part 1: JAES, 

Vol.34 No.4, pp.227–235, April 1986; Part 2: JAES, Vol.34 

No.5, pp.323–348, May 1986.) 

the head. Choosing audio components, 

I’ve realized, must have elements of 

both. If you don’t love your system, 

you won’t enjoy it much. Toole gets 

the general right, but leaves the personal 

out of the equation. That was 

precisely his goal—but it’s not the 

whole story. 

Years ago, having finished graduate 

school, I decided to buy a truck. After 

six years of grad-school poverty, I was 

used to pinching pennies, and because 

my brother worked at Ford, I was eligible 

for an industry-accommodation 

price. So I didn’t really shop; I just 

bought the cheapest Ford truck, a fourcylinder 

Ranger. The special price 

made it a better value, per mile, than 

any used vehicle I could have bought. 

My new truck was underpowered and 

felt cheap and hollow, but it was reliable 

and functional. It was an entirely 

practical choice. 

Those of you who’ve some life 

experience already know how this 

story ended. It wasn’t long before I 

came to hate that truck, but one of the 

conditions of my accommodation price 

was that I had to keep it for at least six 

months. After six months and one day, 

I sold it, and I didn’t lose much money. 

The reproduction of recorded music 

is unusual, if not unique, in so intimately 

combining elements of art and 

science. I’m not sure love is adequate to 

describe Van Gogh’s vivid, agonized 

distortions, but for many modern 

artists the word well describes what, 

beyond—or perhaps instead of—naturalism, 

they add to the picture. For the 

uninitiated, it might seem odd to link 

our blatantly consumerist hobby with 

enduring art, but we audiophiles know 

better. Audio is based on solid science, 

but the Impressionists, Expressionists, 

and other modern artists were on to 

something that many audiophiles have 

long known, and that others, such as I, 

are in the process of learning: When it 

comes to all the things we care about, 

love and reality are hopelessly intertwined. 

You can’t have one without the 

other, and wouldn’t want to even if you 

could. ■■ 

www.Stereophile.com, May 2007 3

MAY 2007 

VOL.30 NO.5 

48 

61 

FEATURES 

46 

A Midas Voice 

A fourth tenor has arisen. Meet the great Rolando Villazón. 

By Robert Levine 

EQUIPMENT REPORTS 

48 Nagra CDP CD player 

(Wes Phillips) 

61 Rega P1 record player 

(Art Dudley) 

67 Roku SoundBridge M1001 WiFi music server 

(Larry Greenhill) 

77 PSB Alpha B1 loudspeaker 

(John Atkinson) 

89 Peak Consult El Diablo loudspeaker 

(Michael Fremer) 

101 Oppo Digital DV-970HD universal disc player 

(Wes Phillips) 

FOLLOW-UP 

43 JL Audio Fathom f113 powered subwoofer 

(Kalman Rubinson) 

115 Westone earmolds for Shure headphones 

(Jim Austin) 

115 VTL TL-7.5 Mk.II Stereo Reference line preamplifier 

(Brian Damkroger) 

4 www.Stereophile.com, May 2007

25 

11 

37 

119 

STEREOPHILE 

MAY 2007 

COLUMNS 

3 As We See It 

Jim Austin makes us ask “what do we really love?” in audio, art or science, and can 

the two be separated? 

9 Letters 

This month, readers write in about our SACD coverage, or lack thereof; and a “real” 

great, radio station. 

Get on your Soapbox! Visit www.stereophile.com. 

11 Industry Update 

High-end audio news including dealer-promoted seminars, plus: Home 

Entertainment in NYC May 11 - 13, the passing of Larry Fish, and a report from 

the UK’s Sound & Vision 2007. 

Want to know more? Go to the “News Desk” at www.stereophile.com for 

up-to-the-minute info. 

19 Sam’s Space 

Sam Tellig listens to his new favorite solid-state, the Luminance KST-150 stereo 

amp. 

25 Analog Corner 

Michael Fremer on the “Great Times for Analog” with reviews of the Allaerts 

MC2 Finish Gold cartridge, Thorens TD 350 turntable with SME M2 tonearm, 

VPI HW-27 Typhoon record-cleaning machine, and the Stax SR-00711 Omega 

II Electrostatic Earspeaker and SRM-007tII tube amplifier. 

33 Listening 

Art Dudley listens to the Joule Electra VZN-80 tubed power amplifier. 

37 Music in the Round 

Kalman Rubinson on the 2007 CES and the Mark Levinson No.433 power 

amplifier. 

45 Book Review 

John Marks reviews Ken Kessler’s McIntosh: “…for the love of music…” 

119 Record Reviews 

May’s “Recording of the Month” is the final project of jazz great Michael Brecker. In 

Classical, we have theremin great Clara Rockmore and a new Mozart Requiem. In 

Rock/Pop, there are new releases by Joe Ely, Grinderman, Norah Jones, and NRBQ. 

And finally, in jazz there are three new records by tenor saxophone players. 

129 Manufacturers’ Comments 

This month, we hear from Kuzma, Luminance, VPI, Joule Electra, Rega, and Peak 

Consult about our reviews of their products. 

138 Aural Robert 

Jazz great Branford Marsalis speaks on his label, Katrina, and his struggling 

hometown. 

INFORMATION 

136 Audio Mart 

132 Manufacturers’ Showcase 

134 Dealers’ Showcase 

135 Advertiser Index 

HOME ENTERTAINMENT 2007 

NY, MAY 11–13 

See p. 130 


The RAINMAKER 

will exceed 

any expectations. 

FOR YOUR NEAREST DEALER CONTACT: 

Tel.: (514) 259-1062 • Fax: (514) 259-4968 

info@totemacoustic.com 

www.totemacoustic.com 

Senior VP/Group Publisher Rob MacDonald 

Editor John Atkinson 

Music Editor Robert Baird 

Managing Editor Elizabeth Donovan 

Production Manager Sherrie Corsun 

Senior Contributing Editors Sam Tellig, Martin Colloms, Michael Fremer, Wes Phillips 

Editor At Large Art Dudley 

Web Producer Jon Iverson 

Assistant Editor Stephen Mejias 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (AUDIO) 

Jim Austin, Paul Bolin, Lonnie Brownell, Peter Breuninger, Brian Damkroger, Robert Deutsch, 

Shannon Dickson, Larry Greenhill, Keith Howard, Jon Iverson, Fred Kaplan, Ken Kessler, David Lander, 

John Marks, Paul Messenger, Robert J. Reina, Kalman Rubinson, Markus Sauer, Peter van Willenswaard 

Test & Measurement Consultant Paul Miller 

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS (MUSIC) 

Larry Birnbaum, Daniel Buckley, Jason Cohen, Thomas Conrad, Daniel Durchholz, Ben Finane, 

Matthew Fritch, Bob Gulla, Robert Levine, Fred Mills, Dan Ouellette, Leland Rucker, Scott Schinder, 

David Sokol, David Patrick Stearns, John Swenson 

Graphic Design Natalie Brown Baca, Elizabeth Donovan 

Cover Photo Eric Swanson 

ADVERTISING SALES 

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& National Retailers 

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Thumbs down from Max 

Editor: 

In the January issue, there was what 

appeared to be an exhaustive discussion of 

Blu-ray vs HD DVD (“Inventing the 

Future—Properly,” p.63). There was much 

technical information, as well as the background 

for the development of these two 

mediums. 

Nowhere was it mentioned that none of 

the hardware so far offers a way of using 

our SACD discs, or the DVD-Audio discs 

that we have accumulated over recent 

years. Sony, in particular, should be castigated 

for having abandoned the SACD medium. 

There are many audiophiles whose living 

spaces will not accommodate both a 

theater room and a decent place for the 

quiet enjoyment of music. For many, our 

equipment must be capable of both functions—watching 

movies and listening to 

multichannel sound. 

The old phrase caveat emptor comes to 

mind. Max Young 

Richmond VA 

ppat.young@comcast.net 

Thumbs up from Fred 

Editor: 

In my review of Dwight Twilley’s Live All 

Access in the March issue (p.129), I noted 

some audio flaws (eg, two-second gaps 

between songs) plaguing the disc. Prior to 

filing my review I had contacted the label, 

Digital Music Group, inquiring about the 

problem. I received acknowledgment of 

my e-mail, but then heard nothing more 

from them. Lo and behold, in mid-February 

the label sent out replacement copies of 

the CD, along with a note indicating that 

there had been a manufacturing defect in 

the pressing. By that point, however, the 

review had already appeared in print. I 

wanted to alert Stereophile’s readers that 

with the flaw-free Twilley CD now in 

stores, it gets an unqualified thumbs-up 

from this reviewer. Fred Mills 

Asheville, NC 

Fmills123@yahoo.com 

Thumbs down from Christopher 

Editor: 

Thank you for publishing Donald C. 

Bingaman’s letter in January (“The Fate of 

the High End,” p.17), which you should 

have framed and displayed in a prominent 

area of your offices. 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 

But I would like to specifically condemn 

your anti-SACD policies, which are helping 

to doom the recording industry, which 

should have adopted the SACD a long time 

ago as the standard process for the reproduction 

of music. Instead of nit-picking about 

conceivable high-end behavior that only 

mathematicians might find of interest, you 

continue to promote old “Red Book” technology 

over the obviously superior SACD. 

A more subtle example of your attempt 

to ignore, if not inter, SACD occurs in the 

same issue: when NAD announces its Masters 

Series components, the M3 integrated 

amplifier and the M5 SACD/CD player. 

You review the former in January, yet fail 

to even mention the latter’s existence, synergy 

be damned. 

Your continued shabby treatment of 

classical music in general, coupled with 

your anti-SACD bias, will take a fatal drubbing 

if you ever get around to reviewing 

Iván Fischer’s fabulous recording of Mahler’s 

Symphony 2. No fair-minded person will 

ever again be able to maintain “Red Book” 

CD technology as being equal to SACD’s. 

The time has come for you to stop living 

in the past (except for SACD’s ability to 

extract the ultimate from the great RCA and 

Mercury recordings of the 1950s and ’60s in 

a far better way than the dry, ludicrously 

overpriced JVC XRCDs ever could) and 

move forward. Stop wasting your readers’ 

time with $100,000 turntables and such. We 

deserve better. Christopher Mankiewicz 

mank@roadrunner.com 

I think what you see, Mr. Mankiewicz, is not an 

editorial policy imposed from above, but the editorial 

bias of some Stereophile writers. I agree with 

you about the perceived lack of enthusiasm for promoting 

this excellent medium in the pages of 

Stereophile, and I am often annoyed and frustrated 

that SACD and its multichannel capabilities 

are ignored in our reviews of equipment with 

those capabilities. 

But looking at Stereophile’s website Forum 

and at other audiophile forums on the Net, I see 

the same posture among readers. There is a pervasive 

unwillingness of the tradition-bound audiophile 

to accept this multichannel medium. Part of 

the problem, as I have mentioned before in 

Stereophile, is the lack of decent and available 

demonstrations at high-end retailers, who usually 

have only dedicated multichannel home theater 

and two-channel music facilities. Part of the problem 

is simple inertia—we all have large physical, 

financial, and emotional investments in our present 

setups. But some of it is an unwillingness to be 

open to a listening experience that goes beyond 

one’s long-term listening paradigm. 

John Curl recently exhumed the following quote 

from a mid-1960s letter to Stereophile, originally 

published in Vol.1 No.4: “Sirs: I say that stereo is a 

first class fake and the biggest fraud ever put out by 

American Mfr. I have never found anyone who 

knows audio engineering or music that did not agree 

with this. All those who disagree just don’t know 

enough to know the truth or they are liars engaged 

in selling stereo equipment. The only reason that 

most people have gone for stereo is that they have not 

had time, and will not take the time to get all the 

facts, so they are victims of advertising, the biggest con 

game in the world, and I am not so sure that they 

don’t deserve what they get.” Substitute multichannel 

SACD for stereo and this letter characterizes the 

opinions of many of today’s audiophiles (including, 

probably, some Stereophile writers). 

So keep on complaining about this, Mr. 

Mankiewicz. I will, too. Kal Rubinson, 

“Music in the Round” 

For the record, Iván Fischer’s recording of Mahler’s 

Symphony 2 was named by Jason Serinus as a 

“Record 2 Die 4” in February 2007 (p.82), and 

KR himself reviews it in this issue’s “Recordings in 

the Round” (p.40). —Ed. 

Try KEXP 

Editor: 

Re: Wes Phillips’ “As We See it” in February, 

there is a great radio station here in 

Seattle: KEXP 90.3 FM (KEXP.org on the 

Web). It may be one of the best stations in 

the country. Their call sign is “Where the 

Music Matters.” 

It’s not formatted; the knowledgeable 

DJs program their own music, and even 

take requests. The station streams live and 

uncompressed signal at 1.4Mbps, so you 

can listen anywhere in the world. They 

broadcast over 400 bands live last year, and 

have them archived to listen to any time. 

They have a real-time playlist that tells you 

the song playing, artist, and album title, 

and has links to where you can order it 

online. It goes back to 2001, so you can 

look up any song played since then. They 

do podcasts, album reviews, and have specialty 

shows. 

Try them out; you won’t be disappointed. 

Dennis Gaughran 

Seattle, WA 

dgaughran@qwest.net 

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be sent as faxes or e-mails only (until further notice). Fax: (212) 886-2809. E-mail: STletters 

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In the spirit of vigorous debate implied by the First Amendment, and unless we are requested not to, we publish correspondents’ 

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©2006 NHT, Inc. 

now hear this. 

www.nhthifi.com 

extraordinary 

integrated 

systems.

CALENDAR 

Those promoting audio-related seminars, 

shows, and meetings should fax 

(do not call) the when, where, and 

who to (212) 915-4164 at least eight 

weeks before the month of the event. 

The deadline for the July 2007 issue is 

May 1, 2007. Mark the fax “Attention 

Stephen Mejias, Dealer Bulletin Board.” 

We will fax back a confirmation. If you 

do not receive confirmation within 24 

hours, please fax us again. 

Attention All Audio Societies: We 

now have a page on the Stereophile 

website dedicated entirely to you: 

www.stereophile.com/audiophilesocieties. 

Check it out and get involved! If 

you’d like to have your audio-society 

information posted on the site, e-mail 

Chris Vogel at vgl@atlantic.net and 

request an info-pack. 

Please note that it is inappropriate 

for a retailer to promote a new product 

line in “Calendar” unless this is 

associated with a seminar or similar 

event. 

ARIZONA 

❚ Saturday, June 2, 12pm: Esoteric 

Audio (Scottsdale) will host a seminar 

with Richard Vandersteen to demonstrate 

and discuss the new 2Ce Signature 

Mk.II and Quattro loudspeakers. 

For more info, call (480) 946-8128. 

CALIFORNIA 

❚ Sunday, April 29, 2–5pm: The Los 

Angeles & Orange County Audio 

Society will hold its monthly meeting 

at Evolution Audio & Video (Agoura 

Hills). Bob Carver of Sunfire will discuss 

his new Cinema Ribbon speakers; 

VAC’s Standard Musicbloc 160 amplifier 

will also be featured. Lunch will be 

served, and guests and new members 

are invited. For more info, visit 

www.laocaudiosociety.net or call Bob 

Levi at (714) 281-5850. 

❚ Saturday, May 5, 11am–4pm: Marihart 

Audio (Colfax) will host its second 

annual Open House. Several 

industry designers and representatives 

will be present, and gear from Cary 

Audio Designs, Final Sound, LSA 

Group, Exemplar Audio, Soaring 

Audio, Creek, Epos, Music Hall, MIT, 

Magnan, Nitty Gritty, Whest, and 

others will be featured. For more info, 

INDUSTRY UPDATE 

US: New York 

John Atkinson 

Showtime! Home Entertainment 

Show 2007, sponsored by Stereophile, 

along with Home Theater, UltimateAVmag.com, 

and Shutterbug takes place at 

Manhattan’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, next 

to Grand Central Station, May 11-13. 

High-end audio systems at all price 

levels will be demonstrated in more 

than 100 rooms and there will be a full 

program of seminars, workshops, and 

music events, admission to all of which 

is included in the Show’s ticket price. 

The latter includes classical pianist 

Robert Silverman, performing Mozart 

and Beethoven, and Attention Screen, 

Robert J. Reina’s collective jazz ensemble, 

who will be performing to support 

the release at the Show of their new 

Stereophile CD, recorded live at Manhattan’s 

Merkin Hall in February (see 

www.stereophile.com/news/021207m 

erkin). On Sunday, Michael Fremer 

will be demonstrating how to get the 

best from LP playback. And don’t miss 

the annual “Editor Roast” Saturday 

afternoon, where Showgoers will be 

able to put this magazine’s writers’ 

audio knowledge to the test. 

HE2007, celebrating 20 years of this 

magazine’s involvement in audio shows, 

will be open to the public 2pm–8pm, 

Friday May 11, 10am–6pm, Saturday 

May 12, and 10am–5pm, Sunday May 

13. You can find full details and the 

schedule for the seminars and concerts 

at www.homeentertainment-expo.com. 

US: Binghamton 

Sam Tellig 

Larry Fish died on Friday, February 9, 

at the age of 74. 

Not many audiophiles knew him, 

but Larry worked for McIntosh Laboratory 

for nearly 30 years, from 1972 to 

2003. For about a decade, in the 1990s, 

he was McIntosh’s Vice President of 

Engineering. He then became Vice 

President for Product Planning. 

That’s when I first met him. Larry 

had a tube amp for me to review: the 

McIntosh MC275 Gordon Gow Commemorative 

Edition, designed by Sidney 

Corderman, Larry’s predecessor. 

For a while, he also held the title of 

McIntosh’s Chief Engineer. 

Larry was not so keen on tubes. 

Hence the fun. 

“Sam, we are not getting back into 

tube amp production,” Larry assured 

me at the time. “This is a one-time, 

limited edition.” 

I laughed my evil laugh. (This was 

over dinner.) 

“What’s that laugh about?” Larry 

wanted to know. 

“I think you’ll find that there is a 

tremendous demand for new McIntosh 

tube gear.” 

Sure enough, McIntosh followed 

the MC275 with the MC2000 Commemorative 

Edition, also designed by 

Sidney Corderman and intended to be 

the ultimate McIntosh tube amp. The 

MC275, too, remained in production— 

minus the Gordon Gow limited-edition 

faceplate. (Gordon was president 

of McIntosh from 1977 to 1989.) 

Larry assured me that the MC2000, 

too, would be a one-time, limited edition, 

and that McIntosh was not going 

to return to making tube amps. Once 

again, the amplifier sold briskly. 

The next thing I knew, Larry visited 

with the McIntosh MC2105, a somewhat 

scaled-down version of the 

MC2000 that’s still in production. I 

have one, along with the Gordon 

Gow-vintage MC275 and the currentproduction 

MC275. Along the way, 

Larry also brought me the C2200 

tubed preamplifier. For someone who 

kept saying he didn’t much care for 

tubes, Larry was the great bearer of 

tube gear. We joked about it. 

That’s how Larry was: kind, gentle, 

humorous, always up for a good discussion, 

and always one to disagree 

without the slightest rancor. It’s a talent 

that’s becoming rare. 

I did, finally, get Larry to concede, 

over dinner, that tubes had a special 

quality. Larry admitted that tubes were 

“mellow”—a description that would 

apply to himself. He hastened to add 

that a good tube amp and a good solidstate 

amp should sound more or less 

the same, though he left no doubt 

which he would prefer. 

What got McIntosh back into tubes? 

Strong sales of tube gear, of course. 

Also, as Larry told me, the availability 

of high-quality, reliable tubes from 

Russia. That’s one of the things that 

had convinced McIntosh to stop producing 

tubed products: the question 

mark about reliable sources of tubes in 

commercial quantities. 

I once quizzed Larry about negative 


Bred Bred for for forhostile hostile hostileenvironments environments 

It’s small enough to sit on a table or fi t in a bookshelf. You might be tempted to call it a bookshelf 

speaker. 

You’d be half right. 

Th e Wilson engineering team began with a concept: design a loudspeaker that could work in 

hostile sonic environments (such as against walls or in bookshelves). That didn’t mean “work 

acceptably.” The challenge was to create a product that would produce the signature Wilson 

sound in those settings. Voices would sound real, tonally accurate, and coherent from top to 

bottom. Percussion would explode from a deep, grain-free background with believable dynamics 

and speed. 

Duette, the latest Special Applications product from Wilson Audio, is the result of nearly two 

years of intense product development. It was designed to off er the timbrel neutrality, dynamic 

impact, soundstage depth, and transparency of fl oor-standing Wilson loudspeakers, but do so 

in a wide variety of architectural settings not suited for fl oor-standing speakers. Until now, the 

visually pleasing architectural integration of sound into our home environments has meant accepting 

serious sonic compromises. 

Available in the same broad range of WilsonGloss colors as the rest of our loudspeakers, 

Duette can seamlessly integrate into unlimited environments. But how will it sound? Imagine 

a Sophia on your bookshelf. Th e bland two-dimensionality endemic to “bookshelf ” or in-wall 

systems is gone, replaced by a spacious, dynamic, and musically natural presentation. 

Th e believability of live music can now be enjoyed in places it could never be found before. 

Wilson Audio . Authentic Excellence 

2233 Mountain Vista Lane, Provo, UT 84606 . 801-377-2233 . wilsonaudio.com

call (530) 320-1576 or e-mail 

kathanta@wildblue.net. 

DELAWARE/TRI-STATE AREA 

❚ Wednesday, May 16, 7–9pm: HiFi 

House (Wilmington) will host an open 

house celebrating the US-dealer premiere 

of the Sonus Faber Elipsa loudspeaker. 

Donald Brody and Bill Peugh 

of Sumiko will be on hand to demonstrate 

the Elipsa. Refreshments will be 

served. Space is limited. RSVP: Gene 

Longo, (302) 655-4780. 

❚ Friday, June 1, 6–9pm; and Saturday, 

June 2, 1–4pm: Overture (Wilmington) 

will present a Wilson Audio 

Specialties seminar featuring Wilson’s 

newest designs. Peter McGrath, Wilson’s 

director of sales, will be on hand 

to play some great new recordings 

and answer questions. Overture has 

planned a program that they feel will 

be exciting for all music enthusiasts, 

and, as always, they’ll have a few surprises 

for all who attend. For more info 

and to RSVP: (800) 838-1812 or visit 

www.overtureav.com. 

MICHIGAN 

❚ Thursday, May 3, 6pm: Overture 

Audio (Ann Arbor) will host an 

evening of music and home-theater 

auditions featuring Garth Powell, director 

of engineering at Furman Sound. 

Garth and the Overture staff will aim 

to demonstrate the audible and visual 

benefits of Furman’s new Reference 

and Elite Line of AC mains conditioners. 

For more info and to RSVP: Keith 

Moorman at (734) 662-1812 or 

mail@overture-audio.com. 

NEW YORK 

❚ Friday–Sunday, May 11–13: Home 

Entertainment 2007 will take place 

at the Grand Hyatt, near New York 

City’s Grand Central Terminal. For 

more info, visit www.homeentertain 

ment-expo.com. 

OHIO 

❚ Saturday–Sunday, May 19–20, 

12–6pm: Don Better Audio (Shaker 

Heights) will host a seminar with 

Jonathan Halpern of Tone Imports. 

Shindo and EMT electronics will be 

featured, along with the Auditorium 

23 Solovox speaker system. Demonstrations 

of proper mono and 78rpm 

playback will be part of the event. For 

more info and to RSVP: (216) 375- 

1393 or info@donbetteraudio.com. 


feedback, which is seen as an evil in 

some quarters. Larry would have none 

of that. What you aim for, he told me, 

is “feedback correctly applied.” I think 

Steve Keiser, of Luminance Audio, told 

me something similar. 

Larry served in the US Air Force 

during the Korean War. Before joining 

McIntosh, he was chief engineer for 

H.H. Scott, where he met his future 

wife, Dot, who became good friends 

with my wife, Marina, and me. From 

1969 to 1972, Larry and Dot lived in 

Japan, where he worked as vice resident 

for Teloem, Inc., a subsidiary of 

Yokohama. Larry learned to speak 

pretty good Japanese. 

Ron Evans, who succeeded Larry as 

McIntosh’s Vice President of Engineering, 

recalls Larry as wonderful to work 

for—open-minded and supportive. 

Maybe Larry was a little old-fashioned. 

While younger engineers were into 

cutting-edge technology, Larry would 

be concerned about how the equipment 

appeared to the customer, and 

how user-friendly it was. 

UK: BRISTOL 

Paul Messenger 

Sound & Vision 2007—aka “the Bristol 

show”—was not a landmark event in 

terms of attendance or new products. 

But a record of 20 consecutive years is 

an achievement in itself for an audio 

show, and, as usual, the excellent organization 

by dealers Audio Excellence and 

Audio T made for a thoroughly enjoyable 

show. 

While S&V is very much a dealerbased 

“selling” event aimed at the 

mainstream audio and video marketplaces 

and has few high-end exhibitors, 

it must now be regarded as the UK’s 

premier audio show—especially now 

that it’s rumored that the venerable fall 

show at Heathrow, sponsored by Hi-Fi 

News, might not take place this year. 

(Should that happen, presumably the 

Chesterfield Communications show, 

sponsored by Hi-Fi World, which took 

place simultaneously with and across 

the road from the Hi-Fi News show in 

2006, will take up some of the slack.) 

And if Bristol has relatively few unaffordable, 

globally sourced goodies to 

drool over, it does give UK brands a 

chance to show off their more modest 

new designs. 

One example of genuine High End 

at Bristol was Kevin Scott’s Living 

Voice room. His battery power supply 

provided immunity from mains-borne 

interference, and allowed some lovely 

amplifiers from Japan—the parallel, single-ended 

Kondo Gakuoh 

monoblocks—to deliver notably sweet 

sounds via some very promising, highly 

efficient, compact, and as-yetunnamed 

horn speakers based on a 

Vitavox design. 

Another high-end oasis, Martin 

Brewster’s Audio Reference room, 

had a more European flavor, with exotic 

Clearaudio vinyl replay via Aesthetix 

Rhea and Calypso tubes feeding 

GamuT electronics and sensibly compact 

Gamut L3 speakers. 

Missing the opportunity to introduce 

an LP13, Linn used S&V to introduce 

its new SE upgrade of the venerable 

LP12 vinyl spinner. Described in more 

detail last month and priced at nearly 

PMC’s EB1 uses a dome midrange unit. 

£5000 for the Ekos SE tonearm and 

Keel subchassis, this is by far the most 

costly LP12 upgrade yet. Even a quick 

listen clearly indicated impressive 

improvements in dynamics. 

Down in the large basement rooms, 

Meridian/Faroudja delivered a 

superb home-theater demo that was 

digital from beginning to end and 

showed remarkable mastery of the 

medium. Just next door, KEF’s new 

Reference-series speakers, now sans 

supertweeter, showed the predicted 

improvement in treble smoothness from 

the revised UniQ driver. I’ve discussed 

this technology in previous “Industry 

Update” columns, but hadn’t appreciat- 

www.Stereophile.com, May 2007 13 

PHOTOS: PAUL MESSENGER

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PENNSYLVANIA 

❚ Thursday, May 17, 7–9pm: HiFi 

House (Jenkintown) will host an open 

house celebrating the US-dealer premiere 

of the Sonus Faber Elipsa loudspeaker. 

Donald Brody and Bill Peugh 

of Sumiko will be on hand to demonstrate 

the Elipsa. Refreshments will be 

served. Space is limited. RSVP: Paul 

Sandquist, (215) 885-5300. 

TEXAS 

❚ Thursday, May 17, 6pm: Krystal 

Clear Audio-Video (Dallas) will host 

their “infamous” annual Spring Into 

Summer bash, featuring food, entertainment, 

and industry luminaries from 

manufacturers such as Transparent 

Audio, Hansen Audio, Arcam, Balanced 

Audio Technology, and Crestron. 

Krystal Clear AV warns potential 

attendees that they should “expect 

surprises.” RSVP by May 8: (214) 520- 

7156 or e-mail info@kcaudio.com. 

GERMANY 

❚ Thursday–Sunday, May 17–20: High 

End 2007 will take place at the M,O,C, 

Events and Order Center, Lilienthalallee 

40, in Munich. For more info, 

visit www.highendsociety.de or e-mail 

highendsociety@t-online.de. 

❚ Friday–Wednesday, August 31–September 

5: IFA 2007 will take place at 

the Berlin Exhibition Grounds (Messe 

Berlin GmbH, Messedamm 22, 14055 

Berlin). For more info, visit www.ifaberlin.com 

or call (540) 372-3777. 

SPAIN 

❚ Friday–Tuesday, April 27–May 1: 

Molingordo 5, sponsored by Matrix- 

HiFi, will take place in Somolinos, near 

Guadalajara. The event is open to all 

audio enthusiasts. For more information, 

visit www.matrixhifi.com/foro/ 

viewtopic.php?t=2647 or e-mail 

marcelo.cinicola@telefonica.net. 


ed just how much 

innovation was built 

into the Reference 

subwoofer. This 

bulky, hefty sealed 

box uses KEF’s activated 

carbon (ACE) 

bass loading, and 

includes room-compensation 

filtering, 

automatic setup with 

a supplied measuring 

microphone, and a 

kilowatt of digital 

power. 

Several other 

leading British 

speaker brands 

showed intriguing 

new upmarket floorstanders. 

Of particular 

interest was PMC’s EB1, a very substantial 

three-way using the large dome 

midrange and smaller dome tweeter 

found in PMC’s OB1, but supplying the 

bottom end from a large, flatdiaphragm, 

transmission-line-loaded 

bass driver. Spendor has come up with 

a very attractive style for its slim, 2 1 ⁄2-way 

ST1, probably the first of a whole new 

line. Tannoy also set a new style a year 

or so ago with its tapered Glenair 15, 

which looks more contemporary than 

its Prestige models yet less extreme 

than the Dimensions. Now there’s 

the Glenair 10, with a 10", ferritedriven, 

dual-concentric drive-unit— 

a size that I found worked exceptionally 

well in the alnico-driven 

Prestige Kensington. 

ProAc’s new superslim floorstander 

(£2000/pair), looked and 

sounded very sweet, its triple 

doped-metal-cone bass supplying 

good punch without bulk. Stuart 

Tyler admitted he’d been planning 

this model ever since he introduced 

the Tablette. And while 

Neat’s new Momentum floorstander 

and stand-mount models 

may look plain and unprepossessing, 

they’re not quite what they seem—hidden 

inside their enclosures are extra 

isobaric bass drivers. I’ve long regarded 

Leema’s tiny Xen as one of the finest 

subminiature speakers around, but 

some customers resist its all-metal finish; 

now there’s an all-wood version. 

Although it’s still necessary to supply 

power to built-in power amplifiers, wireless 

speakers have obvious advantages in 

today’s increasingly WiFi environments. 

German brand Canton, one of the leaders 

in this field, reports healthy growth in 

demand for its 

wireless models. 

And the irrepressible 

Steve Moore, 

founder of London 

hi-fi retailer 

The Cornflake 

Shop, introduced 

the Free wireless 

s p e a k e r 

(£2900/pair), 

based on an active 

version of PMC’s 

ultracompact 

GB1 floorstander. 

Exhibited 

alongside Wilson 

Benesch’s 

rather wonderful 

Torus subwoofer, 

now in production, 

were WB’s new Square Series 

speakers, intended for mounting close 

to or on walls and incorporating such 

clever techniques as a deliberately lossy 

ABR and internal steel baffles to absorb 

rearward radiation. Nor were all the 

interesting newcomers costly, hi-tech 

affairs: Focal’s latest speakers, the Chorus 

700V and 800V, were making very 

good sounds at very reasonable prices. 

The same was true of Acoustic Energy’s 

new Aegis Neo models, whose 

The Cornflake Shop’s Steve Moore, with his Free 

wireless speakers. 

Chord’s CPA 3000 preamp and 

SPM 650 power amplifier. 

neodymium magnets result in unusually 

clean midbands for low-cost speakers. 

I was intrigued to discover that Bulgaria 

is the home of a speaker brand 

called EBTB, which stands for Everything 

But The Box. Their strikinglooking 

models include a large, nearly 

spherical subwoofer, some compact 

two-ways combining smaller spheres 

with baffle panels, and a cast ovoid 

main driver enclosure topped by a separate 

tweeter nacelle. These dramaticlooking 

speakers were being marketed 

alongside some interesting-looking 


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Exposure’s MGX component system. 

Fatman tube products at very competitive 

prices, developed by pro-audio 

tube specialists TLAudio with Chinese 

partners, and including nostalgic 

“magic eye” meters and an impressivelooking 

iPod dock-amp. 

More conventional electronics included 

a number of interesting items. Pioneer 

is pitching to get back into the High 

Yes, it’s a Rega phono preamp! 

End with its new A6 and A9 integrated 

stereo amps and PD6 CD player. Harking 

back to the PM400 and its brethren 

from the late 1980s, the new components 

are distinctively styled with chunky 

faceplates, and were developed after 

numerous listening sessions at Air Studios. 

Insiders rate the A9 amplifier particularly 

highly as a genuine audiophile 

product at a very affordable price: £700. 

At rather more substantial prices, 

Chord Electronics’ combo of CPA2500 

preamp and SPM650 power amp looked 

predictably gorgeous. Costing around 

£8000, these are essentially strippeddown, 

less costly versions of, respectively, 


the CPA5000 and SPM1400E. Exposure 

showed the decidedly ambitious 

MC-X CD-based component system, 

looking all mean and black and featuring 

balanced interconnection throughout. 

Its fully regulated, 300W 

monoblock power amps help account 

for the MC-X’s price of £15,000. 

Naim bravely and successfully 

used its powerful new Supernait integrated 

amplifier to demonstrate the 

differences among its CD players. A 

key feature of this amplifier is an 

onboard DAC and front digital input 

that facilitate connection to a PC 

while avoiding the latter’s onboard 

soundcard; the DAC is muted when 

the analog inputs are in use. Cyrus’ 

Discmaster QX will play both DVDs 

and CDs as standard, but an extra, 

separate, audio-only DAC with its own 

output sockets can be ordered or added 

later as an upgrade, to improve the 

quality from CDs. 

Its treble peak notwithstanding, 

Rega’s new Apheta moving-coil 

cartridge looks as if it’s taken up permanent 

residence in my tonearm, so 

I look forward to trying the very 

flexible phono stage 

Rega is just finalizing. 

It’s unusual in using a 

combination of transformers 

and active electronics 

to supply the 

gain. It also has 

adjustable loading and a 

specific, tuneable HF 

filter for taming the 

Apheta’s top-end peak. 

In addition to the 

serious hi-fi, some other 

introductions caught my 

attention. Digital audio 

broadcast (DAB) radio 

specialist Pure Digital 

has signed a marketing 

deal with PA specialist 

Marshall. Rock fans in DAB zones 

can now have a tiny radio (and 

matching extension stereo speaker) 

in full Marshall livery, with a volume 

scale marked from “0” to… “11”! 

Ruark used to distribute those neat 

little Tivoli Audio radios in Britain, 

but DAB digital radio is available only 

in certain territories, and because 

Tivoli is a US brand, DAB-equipped 

Tivolis were difficult to obtain. As a 

result, Tivoli is now being distributed 

in the UK by Armour Home Electronics, 

while Ruark has launched the Vita 

Audio brand. Vita’s R1 table radio 

shows a strong Tivoli influence, but is 

different in shape and operation, 

comes in a wide range of colors, and 

includes DAB as well as FM. 

Another British speaker brand 

branching out into new areas is 

Acoustic Energy. AE has already 

enjoyed success with an easy-to-use 

WiFi Internet Radio, has since added 

their Bluetooth speaker line, and at 

Bristol showed a prototype of the very 

neat-looking Media Adapter, which 

combines remote-controlled Internet 

radio with easy WiFi connectivity 

between PC and hi-fi system. At least, 

that’s what I think it does. 

Arcam is following up the commercial 

success of its all-singing Solo stereo 

music machine with the new Solo 

Movie 5.1, which combines high-quality 

DVD-Video replay and five channels of 

amplification with a host of other features, 

including CD, SACD, DVD- 

Audio, DAB and FM radio, and iPod 

integration, all in a single compact unit. 

It’s not cheap (£2000), but it’s clever, 

Turn it up to “11”: The Pure Marshall DAB radio. 

remarkably compact, and delivered a 

very persuasive demo at S&V. 

Sound & Vision 2007 may not have 

broken records in attendance or number 

of exhibitors, but it was undoubtedly 

successful, attracting increasing numbers 

of overseas attendees, and providing a 

good opportunity for mostly British 

brands to show their latest kit. The overall 

impression it gave was that the British 

high-end audio industry is in reasonably 

good health. ■■ 


In 1981, John Beyer and Steve Keiser 

formed B&K Components, Ltd. If 

you’re a longtime reader of this column, 

you may recall their first offering: 

the ST-140 power amp. It 

helped prove that a solid-state design 

could take on tubes and win in terms of 

musicality. However, for certain audiophiles 

(and reviewers), the ST-140 had 

one big drawback: at $399, it didn’t cost 

nearly enough to be taken seriously. 

That didn’t bother Stereophile’s 

founder, J. Gordon Holt, who may 

have been the first reviewer to discover 

the ST-140. He reviewed it in August 

1984, in Vol.7 No.4. In fact, Gordon 

liked the amp so much that he suggested 

that I review it, too, which I did in 

December 1985, in Vol.8 No.8. I was 

the Audio Cheapskate back then, and 

the ST-140 was perfect. 

Back then, I owned Quad ESL-63 

loudspeakers, which then sold for 

around $3000/pair. That was considered 

expensive, and was nearly eight times 

the price of the ST-140. That didn’t matter. 

The B&K drove the Quads like a 

champ. (Two decades on, I still own 

Quads—the current model, ESL-2805.) 

Of course, there were drawbacks. 

The ST-140’s bass response wasn’t so 

great. Transparency stopped short of 

the state of the art. The ST-140 seemed 

to surround the music in a velvet fog 

that I called “MOSFET mist.” 

In terms of musicality, though, the 

amp was a winner: it hit the harmonics 

just right. It sounded more like tubes 

than tubes did, and was especially magical 

with my Quads. 

So you can imagine my interest 

when Steve Keiser, who’d designed the 

ST-140, called to tell me that he’s back 

in the hi-fi business. (No, he hasn’t quit 

his day job. Steve quit B&K some time 

ago for a career in computers, and John 

Beyer has since directed B&K Components 

away from two-channel audio 

and into home theater. Savvy moves 

for both gentlemen, no doubt.) 

“Sam, I’ve got the perfect amp for 

your Quads.” 

“As good as the ST-140?” 

“Better. If you heard the ST-140 

today, you would be well aware of its 

shortcomings.” 

SAM’S SPACE 

Sam Tellig 

Sam Finds a New Solid-State Favorite 

At first, I thought Steve was saying 

he’d designed an amplifier specifically 

to drive Quads—a narrow niche indeed. 

Such is not the case. But Steve’s new 

amp is not 

designed to 

drive every 

loudspeaker. 

If you’re 

looking for a 

bone-crushing 

amp to 

deliver killer 

current into 

very-lowimpedance 

speaker 

loads, this 

one’s not it. 

Steve is one of three principals of a 

new company called Luminance 

Audio, which has been up and running 

for about two years. 1 Their first, and so 

far only, product is this stereo amp, the 

KST-150. It retails for $2995—not nearly 

enough for Paul Bolin or Mikey Fremer. 

Or these days, maybe not even 

Art Dudley. 

The K in KST-150 is Steve Keiser. 

The S is Rick Schultz of Canadian cable 

company Virtual Dynamics, which distributes 

Luminance. T is Mike Tseng, a 

businessman who loves hi-fi and music. 

The KST-150 is made in the US, just 

outside Buffalo, New York. 

The old B&K ST-140 was fine so 

long as your loudspeaker’s impedance 

didn’t fall much below 4 ohms. The 

amp couldn’t hammer high current 

into very low loudspeaker impedances. 

Paradoxically, this was the ST-140’s 

strength: in not having to bang out 

balls-to-the-wall current, with most 

loudspeakers it could achieve an agility, 

a degree of musicality, that was truly 

exceptional—especially at the price. 

Once again, Steve Keiser has deliberately 

designed a somewhat spartan 

amplifier that won’t hammer high current 

into low-impedance speaker loads. 

The KST-150 is more for sound than 

1 Luminance Audio. Web: www.luminanceaudio.com. 

US distributor: Virtual Dynamics, Box 4494, 5103-51 

Street, Barrhead, Alberta T7N 1A4, Canada. Tel: (780) 

674-3374, (877) 347-4489. Fax: (780) 674-5638. Web: 

www.virtualdynamics.ca. 

for show. But I find it quite handsome, 

in an understated way. It’s a plain black 

box—not a piece of hi-fi jewelry to 

impress your audiophile friends. Fit 

The Luminance KST-150. 

and finish are just fine. Would you like 

a fancier faceplate and a classier chassis? 

You’d be looking at $5000 or more. 

The KST-150 is rated to deliver 

150Wpc into 8 ohms, 200Wpc into 4 

ohms, or 220Wpc into 3 ohms. Below 

3 ohms, it poops out (though Steve 

didn’t phrase it that way). There are 

good reasons why an amplifier should 

not be designed to drive speakers of 

very low impedance—to the detriment 

of the vast majority of listeners, whose 

loudspeakers don’t require such heroic 

amplification. I talked with Steve about 

this. More in a minute. 

This is one cool amp. Our cat, 

Maxik, concurs—the KST-150 ran so 

cool that Maxik preferred my lap or 

shoulders to sitting atop the amp. 

Maxik is a good judge of sound, too. If 

he doesn’t like what he hears, he goes 

to my wife, Marina, and watches Russian 

TV. The KST-150 ran quietly, both 

electrically and physically. There was 

almost no noise through the loudspeakers. 

No annoying transformer 

hum or buzz. The KST-150 just sat 

there and purred. 

Steve told me the amp needed more 

run-in time, so I let it play with my Quads 

while I played with the cat. I didn’t listen 

too hard, but I liked what I heard right 

out of the box. After the break-in period, 

the amp liked 30–40 minutes of warmup. 

After an hour, it was completely on song, 

as the Brits like to say. No need to leave it 

on all the time. 


The KST-150 measures a standard 17" 

W by 5.5" H by 16.5" D. There are no 

hideous rack handles to put off female 

customers. Much of its 33-lb weight is 

accounted for by its 56,000μF power 

supply, distributed among six capacitors 

connected in parallel. BIG power supply. 

That’s something the ST-140 didn’t have. 

The heatsinks are on the back and, as 

they did on the ST-140, they crowd the 

single pair of binding posts. 

I did what Steve suggested and 

hooked up the KST-150 to my Quad 

ESL-2805s. I used various digital 

sources, and this line-stage and that. 

For most of the time, I used Rega’s 

new Saturn CD player into the Musical 

Fidelity X-10 V3 buffer stage into a 

Purest Sound Systems Model 500 passive 

“preamp.” Just before deadline, I 

received the new Superphon Revelation 

III preamp from Stan Warren. 

This was turning into an old-timer’s 

night from the 1980s: Steve and Stan, 

legends from 20 years ago. Back then, 

many impoverished audiophiles used 

the original Superphon Revelation 

Basic preamp with the B&K ST-140. 

Steve Keiser was right about this: the 

KST-150 latched on to the Quads as if 

they were made for one another, which 

they really weren’t. If you own a pair of 

Quad electrostatic speakers—any 

model—you have to check out this 

amp. As Kal Rubinson would say, it’s 

mandatory. 

And as Yogi Berra once said, the 

KST-150 was déjà vu all over again—a 

B&K ST-140 for today. It hits the harmonics 

just right. The midrange was 

full-bodied, rich, natural, immediate. 

Call it tubelike—I just call it musical. 

This may be the magic of MOSFETs: a 

certain way with even-order harmonics. 

And never mind the MOSFET 

mist: it wasn’t present. (MOSFET mist 

is now largely a thing of the past, 

although amplifiers that use MOSFETs 

in the output stage do tend toward a 

somewhat softer focus than amps that 

use bipolar output transistors.) 

The name Luminance Audio proved 

apt: the KST-150 sounded as if illuminated 

from within, rather like a fleapowered 

single-ended-triode tube 

amp. But there isn’t a single tube. The 

KST-150 is entirely solid-state. 

Compared to the ST-140, the sound 

of the KST-150 has been cleaned up: a 

slightly soft focus (no hard edges), no 

MOSFET mist. No lack of definition 

and low-level detail. Yes, it costs sevenand-a-half 

times more than the ST-140 

did. But adjust for inflation. Take into 

SAM’S SPACE 

account the bigger power supply. More 

power. (The original ST-140 was rated 

to deliver a modest 70Wpc from a single 

pair of MOSFET output transistors 

per side.) The KST-150 is as big a bargain 

today as the ST-140 was in its day. 

Just don’t expect big-bucks reviewers 

to take it seriously. Hey, it’s your 

money, not theirs. 

Steve told me he could have made 

the KST-150 cheaper, but it would 

have been less of an amp. He’s incorporated 

such features as a three-pole 

AC line filter. In other words, powerline 

conditioning is standard. Built in. 

Steve says he hasn’t skimped on parts, 

either: polypropylene capacitors, highquality 

resistors, etc. 

So much for specs. I keep coming 

back to the sound. 

The KST-150’s transient response 

was nothing short of phenomenal. I 

heard it with triangles, cymbals, 

plucked strings. I heard it with good 

piano recordings: the attack and decay 

of the notes. Quad speakers are as 

quick as can be—one reason to own 

electrostatic speakers—and the KST- 

150 let me hear just how quick my 

Quad ESL-2805s are. The combination 

was breathtakingly fast. 

This amp changed my listening 

habits! Ordinarily I listen mostly to 

classical music, but I have a good jazz 

collection, too. The KST-150’s transient 

speed had me turning more and 

more to jazz. It also had me listening 

long into the night, much to Marina’s 

annoyance. 

“Do you know what time it is, 

Sam?” 

Ah. 3:30am. 

“Come to bed.” 

I’m not sure which solid-state amp 

last had me sitting up more than half 

the night. Maybe it was the B&K ST- 

140. 

I asked Steve about this transient 

speed thing. According to him, the 

KST-150’s performance has to do with 

slew rate and squarewaves. He claims 

the KST-150 has a slew rate of 250V 

per microsecond, which Steve 

describes as an industry first. Yes, some 

other amplifiers come close—digital 

amps, in particular. But 100V/μs is 

usually considered fast, and 60V/μs is 

more the norm. 

Steve pointed out that some digital 

amplifiers achieve slew rates as high as 

220V/μs. But, according to him, they 

lack the “fullness of character” that the 

best analog solid-state amplifiers can 

achieve. 

I’m very much in agreement here. I 

have yet to hear a digital amplifier I 

like (they sound so sterile)—but digital 

amps do tend to sound fast. The KST- 

150 achieved comparable speed—and 

then some—while being an analog 

amp. You can have the breathtaking 

speed of a digital amplifier and you can 

have your analog, too. Speed is what 

I HAVE YET TO HEAR A DIGITAL AMPLIFIER I LIKE 

(THEY SOUND SO STERILE)—BUT DIGITAL AMPS DO 

TEND TO SOUND FAST. 

set this amplifier apart from the rest of 

the pack. It was so quick with the 

Quads that I was sometimes startled. 

The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 10th 

Ed., defines the verb slew thusly: to 

“give a maximum response to a sudden 

large increase in input.” A slew rate 

specifies how fast an amplifier’s output 

voltage can change with respect to its 

input voltage—in other words, it 

describes an amplifier’s ability to follow 

its input signal. Slew rate is 

expressed in V/μs. But there’s more 

than just slew rate going on in the 

Luminance KST-150. Squarewave performance, 

for instance. 

“I use a completely different set of 

objectives and engineering design criteria 

from other designers,” Steve Keiser 

told me. “It comes down to one empirical 

test that’s entirely visual. The test is 

squarewave response. Not at the output 

of the amplifier, but inside the circuit. 

At every internal point in the amplifier—every 

point that can be identified on 

a schematic—I have analyzed the squarewave 

performance of every transistor, 

every capacitor, every resistor. 

“When I first started to design an 

amplifier circuit, I observed a severe 

amount of distortion and alteration of 

squarewave response. The first question 

was, is it significant and is it audible? 

The second question was, if I were 

to correct for the distortion, what 

would the result be? 

“I proceeded to identify each of the 


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points where I could see a squarewave 

anomaly, and I corrected for it by 

adding appropriate networks and 

matching impedances—the usual kinds 

of things that electrical engineers do to 

optimize circuit performance. I tried to 

identify and eliminate as much of the 

squarewave aberration as possible.” 

Steve was warming up, just like his 

amp. 

“I have a marvelous computer program 

that is produced by a California 

company called Electronics Workbench. 

The program takes circuit elements 

and allows you to put all the 

components and all their dynamic 

characteristics into a computer. It’s as if 

you are working with test equipment, 

but you are doing it inside a computer. 

The software has allowed me to identify 

all points of squarewave aberration 

and to correct for them without doing 

anything in real space.” 

According to Steve, squarewave performance 

matters at every stage. 

“Twenty years ago, Julian Hirsch 

said something to the effect that every 

parameter of audio performance 

should be capable of being objectively 

quantified. I wasn’t so sure at the time, 

but now I think Julian was right. There 

is a great advantage to being able to 

quantify things instead of shooting in 

the dark. You don’t have to spend a lot 

of time experimenting. You can reduce 

development time and cost.” 

So where do some other designers 

go astray? 

“I think they approach things from a 

black-box perspective. They look at 

the input signal and they look at the 

output signal.” 

But it matters what happens along 

the way. 

“This was during my B&K years: I 

was sitting around one day. I had my 

oscilloscope on and my signal generator. 

It was generating a 10kHz squarewave. I 

just randomly took the oscilloscope 

probe and touched it to a place inside 

the circuit. I noticed that the squarewave 

response was really odd. Then I 

added a resistor in parallel with the 

compensation capacitor, and I noticed 

that the squarewave was dramatically 

improved. I heard the difference.” 

I asked about the KST-150’s lowimpedance 

limitation. 

“The KST-150 has four MOSFET 

output devices per channel. MOSFETs 

are self-protecting. That is, they are selflimiting. 

As they become very warm, the 

gain goes down and their electrical characteristics 

become unfavorable.” 

SAM’S SPACE 

I CONFIRMED THE 

KST-150’S CHARACTER: 

OPEN, AIRY, 

TRANSPARENT, 

HARMONICALLY 

RIGHT…AND FAST. 

What might make the MOSFETs 

become warm? Trying to drive verylow-impedance 

speaker loads, especially 

at low frequencies. The B&K ST-140 

used just a single pair of MOSFET 

devices per channel. Had Steve given 

any thought to doing that with the 

KST-150 and reducing the amplifier 

power? 

“I feel that two pair per channel is 

optimum, but no more. As you add to 

the number of output transistors, you 

slow down the output stage, because 

the driver stage has to contend with 

delivering more current. The output 

devices also have an associated capacitance, 

which has to be charged and discharged 

by the driver stage. 

“I think it was you, Sam, who 

coined the term MOSFET mist. I 

found that this mist, or fog, is, in fact, 

their capacitive load. By minimizing 

the number of output devices, it’s possible 

to avoid the encouragement of 

MOSFET mist—transient distortion, 

if you will—due to the loading of the 

driver stage. 

“But, yes, to answer your question, I 

did try a single pair of MOSFETs per 

channel. I found that when I added an 

extra pair, took the power up, and doubled 

the current delivery, I didn’t lose 

any sonic performance. 

“When I went to six MOSFET 

devices per channel, that’s when the 

capacitive load and the current requirements 

of the output devices started to 

overtax the driver stage. If I try beefing 

up the driver stage, the additional components 

compromise the transparency 

of the circuit.” 

So, yes, less is more. And some 

amplifiers are dragged down by their 

own weight, as it were—made slower, 

less transparent, less agile. 

As for the KST-150’s ability to drive 

low-impedance loads, Steve had this to 

say: “It’s related to the self-limiting 

nature of MOSFETs and the fact that 

there are two pair of MOSFET output 

devices per channel.” 

Does the amp crap out below 3 

ohms? 

“It doesn’t fail, if that’s what you 

mean. But performance does degrade.” 

It’s a tradeoff: speed, transparency, 

and economy vs the ability to deal with 

loudspeaker loads that probably 

shouldn’t be foisted on the public in 

the first place. 

I also asked Steve about balanced 

designs. According to him, a balanced 

design is the cat’s meow only if it 

truly is a fully symmetrical, mirrorimaged 

design. Unfortunately, such a 

design just about doubles the parts 

count and build cost. Many designs 

purported to be balanced ain’t, Steve 

pointed out. In any event, if you’re 

looking for a quiet amplifier, the KST- 

150 fills the bill. Which would you 

rather pay, $5000 or $3000? 

How universal is the KST-150? 

It’s not confined to Quads, that’s for 

sure. I whisked the KST-150 down to 

our living room, where the Triangle 

Comete Anniversaire and the new Verity 

Audio Rienze loudspeakers are set 

up. It was an easy schlep—the Luminance 

weighs only 33 lbs. It’s not some 

audiophile monstrosity that’s so heavy 

you can’t lift it. 

I confirmed the KST-150’s character: 

open, airy, transparent, harmonically 

right…and fast. As for 

bone-crushing bass, not quite (hardly 

an issue with the minimonitor 

Triangles). One thing for sure: with 

the Rienzi speakers, the bass was 

tight, taut, fast. The Luminance just 

didn’t hammer out current from 

hell. If it had, it wouldn’t have 

sounded half as good. 

A monoblock version of the KST- 

150, rated to deliver 400W into 8 

ohms, should be ready by the time you 

read this. It’s a bridged version of the 

stereo amp: you could buy one KST- 

150 and add a second one later. The 

modification has to be done at the factory. 

A preamp is set to follow; but, as 

Steve Keiser well knows, a preamp is 

even more difficult to design than a 

power amp because you’re working 

with signals of much lower level. 

Luminance dealers are few. Seek 

one out. Try to hear the KST-150. It 

pumps out more than enough power 

for most speakers, there are no expensive 

tubes to replace, and it costs $3000. 

It deserves to be listed in Class A of 

“Recommended Components.” If the 

KST-150 sold for $18k instead of $3k, 

hosannas of praise would be raining 

down from all sides. ■■ 


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These are great times for analog, 

and I’m happy to have played a 

small part in the revival, but 

recently the demand for some 

products has outstripped supply; getting 

review samples has been next to 

impossible. I’ve requested an Audio 

Research PH7 phono preamplifier for 

literally years now, but ARC can’t 

build them fast enough, so they don’t 

need a review. The more they sell, the 

greater the buzz, and the greater the 

buzz, the more e-mails I get from readers 

asking for a review. It’s not nice to 

not be needed. 

Likewise, I haven’t been able to procure 

a Schröder tonearm or an Allaerts 

cartridge. Both Frank Schröder and Jan 

Allaerts have waiting lists for their 

hand-built products, so they hardly 

need publicity—but I need to hear their 

products. 

Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold 

cartridge 

Unsolicited and out of the blue, a reader 

in Mexico recently offered me the 

use of his Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold 

cartridge ($6500). Handling a review 

sample of an expensive, manufacturersupplied 

cartridge is plenty scary. 

Thinking of the “I’m sorry” e-mail I’d 

have to send if I crunched this reader’s 

“if you want one get in line” cartridge 

was almost enough to make me leave it 

in the box. 

Don’t let the Allaerts’ homebrewlooking 

aluminum skin fool you: 

What’s inside the box-like covering 

(which acts as an RF-screening Faraday 

cage) is a precision-manufactured 

product, which you’ll see if you visit 

the Allaerts website, http://users.pan 

dora.be/jallaerts/. You’ll really appreciate 

the comprehensiveness of Jan 

Allaerts’ specs and parts descriptions. 

But when you look at the site’s closeup 

shots of cartridges, the designs 

seem to be less about technological 

innovation than about the use of the 

highest-quality parts and materials, 

and ultraprecise execution. 

The MC2 Finish Gold is a low-output 

(0.2mV), medium-compliance cartridge 

weighing 10gm. A solid-boron 

cantilever holds a Fritz Geiger Signa- 

ANALOG CORNER 

Michael Fremer 

Great Times For Analog 

ture (FG-S) High Tech diamond stylus. 

The coils are hand-wound, using 20μm 

solid-gold wire on a 

square Teflon former. 

The connector 

pins, too, are solid 

gold. More details 

at the Allaerts website. 

Because the 

MC2 arrived 

already broken in, I 

mounted it on a 

Graham Phantom 

ceramic arm wand, 

set the tracking 

force to exactly 

1.8gm, and adjusted 

the azimuth using 

the electronic 

method. The vertical 

tracking angle 

(VTA) was best 

overall when set 

with the arm 1–2° 

up from parallel with the record surface. 

After a short warmup, I began my 

serious listening. 

Like the Clearaudio Goldfinger 

($8000), the Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold 

delivered a distinctively smooth and 

natural instrumental attack, yet never 

sounded soft, boring, or rolled off. 

However, despite its claimed frequency 

response of 3Hz–100kHz, its top-end 

performance tended more toward the 

burnished than the sparkling. 

Every time I hear live symphonic 

music I’m reminded that, even when 

strings attack, they don’t bite, even in 

the brightness of Avery Fisher Hall. 

Yet neither are they soft and smothered, 

as some cartridges deliver them. 

Instead, the initial attack is clean and 

sharp without etch, followed by a 

“rolling over” sensation, which together 

produce a roundness that announces 

“live.” The Allaerts’ magic was in its 

ability to produce that clean yet velvety 

sensation heard in live performance 

throughout the audible bandwidth— 

even at the very bottom, where 

acoustic bass sounded rich and full but 

never soft, bloated, or soggy. I thought 

the Allaerts’ low-frequency weight 

made it more suitable than the 

Goldfinger for amplified music such as 

rock and blues, but both cartridges are 

Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold cartridge. 

better suited to acoustic music. I wonder 

if the similarity is because of the 

gold coils. The MC2’s rhythmic performance 

was equally satisfying, balancing 

weight with sufficient speed to 

avoid sluggishness. 

If you listen to a lot of classical vocal 

music, you’d do well to consider the 

MC2 Finish Gold. Its ability to reproduce 

the human voice virtually in the 

flesh and in three dimensions, while 

preserving texture and tonality, was 

astonishing. 

That said, the Allaerts’ overall spectral 

balance was on the warm, burnished 

side, and when I went back and 

forth between it and my reference Lyra 

Titan i, I heard some surprises. For 

instance, with one recording featuring 

strings and harpsichord, through the 

Allaerts, the harpsichord almost dipped 

out of the picture—yet its balance with 

the strings was probably closer to what 

you’d hear live than through the Titan 

i, which cast the instrument in greater 

relief. The latter was probably what the 

engineer intended, though of course 

that’s conjecture. 

What wasn’t conjecture was the 

enormous soundstage delivered by the 

Allaerts. The wide, deep picture, com- 


IMAGES: MICHAEL FREMER

ined with the refined, rich tonal balance 

and Teflon-like musical flow, 

produced a calming yet simultaneously 

stimulating effect, much as you get 

when listening to live acoustic music 

in a good hall. It also rode smoothly 

and quietly in the grooves, minimizing 

surface noise and other record defects. 

Even though the MC2 Finish Gold 

was less than brilliant on top, I found it 

satisfying and enticing with all musical 

genres. Somehow, it didn’t sound 

polite, rolled off, or soft. It never led to 

boredom, or to me wishing it would 

“open up,” as I do with many overly 

polite cartridges. 

The seamless top-to-bottom balance 

of the Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold produced 

a sonic picture that was believable, 

texturally, tonally, and spatially. However, 

while I enjoyed listening to all kinds of 

music reproduced by it, I recommend it 

primarily for acoustic music. Given that, 

the Allaerts MC2 Finish Gold is a truly 

distinctive and magical cartridge. Now I 

know why it’s back-ordered. 

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LP. 

Visit www.musicangle.com for full 

reviews. 

ANALOG CORNER 

Thorens TD 350 turntable 

with SME M2 tonearm 

A reader once e-mailed to ask how I’m 

able to review lesser turntables with 

the $100,000 Continuum Audio Labs 

Caliburn sitting on the 

adjacent stand. The 

answer is simple: It’s 

my job. Plus, with analog, 

for some reason, if 

a turntable is properly 

designed and set up, it 

will make pleasing 

music—I don’t care how 

inexpensive it is. 

At $3299 without 

tonearm, the new 

Thorens TD 350 is not 

inexpensive. The 350 

revives the brand’s 

famous suspended-subchassis 

design, updated 

for 21st-century vinyl 

playback with (per the 

ads) modern materials 

and concepts to independently 

damp the springs’ 

horizontal and vertical excursions. 

The subchassis, hidden within a 

beautifully worked wooden plinth, 

floats at an effective frequency low 

enough that, during playback, banging 

on the plinth or the platform—and I 

mean banging, not tapping—didn’t faze 

the system. I couldn’t hear the faintest 

thump through my speakers. 

A built-in electronic speed controller 

spins the internally mounted 

synchronous AC motor. A plastic pulley 

protrudes from the top of the plinth 

to drive a thin, square-section elastomer 

belt, which in turn drives a 9-lb, 

12" platter of heavily damped aluminum. 

A hinged dustcover is included. 

The TD 350 is 17.3" (440mm) 

wide by 6.3" (160mm) high by 13.6" 

(345mm) deep—compact, classic proportions 

that have fallen out of favor 

with audiophiles at this price point. 

But despite its relatively small footprint, 

the Thorens weighs 22 lbs. If 

you’re in the market for a ca-$3000 

turntable, you’d be making a mistake 

by not considering this one. 

The review sample came with an 

SME M2 tonearm installed, for a total 

price of $5399. It can also be had with 

an SME 309 for $5799, or a Rega 

RB250 for a reasonable $3599. The 

SME M2 represents a significant sonic 

step up from the Rega RB300, at least 

based on a direct comparison I heard 

using the T+A G-10 R turntable, 

which comes with either the RB300 or 

the SME M2. So I extrapolate that the 

M2 is at least as big a step up from the 

RB250 (though some Rega enthusiasts 

insist the 250 is superior to the 300). 

The Thorens TD 350 and SME M2 

Thorens TD 350 turntable with SME M2 tonearm and Clearaudio 

Maestro cartridge: an outstanding combination. 

seemed the ideal turntable and arm 

with which to audition the Clearaudio 

Maestro, a wood-bodied moving-magnet 

cartridge ($999) with a boron cantilever 

that’s uncomfortably exposed 

(as are the cantilevers of most current 

Clearaudio designs). Don’t worry 

about it, just be careful. 

A turntable’s most important job is 

to spin at the right speed. The TD 350 

produced a 1004Hz tone from a 

1000Hz test track—about as good as it 

gets. Speaking of as good as it gets, in 

the category of turntable, tonearm, and 

cartridge for under $6500, I’d recommend 

this combination all day and 

every day. In fact, it was so good I didn’t 

try any other cartridges with the 

TD 350. Why break up a successful 

act? The 350, M2, and Maestro produced 

a vivid, harmonically rich picture, 

with a velvety image physicality 

that made me want to reach out and 

touch whatever was appearing 

between the speakers. 

I played lots of records over a twomonth 

period, enjoying the presentation 

for what it was without wondering 

what I might have gotten from the 

Continuum Caliburn. That’s how wellbalanced, 

relaxed, and enticing this 

combo’s performance was. I listened 

twice straight through a superb-sounding 

45rpm issue of The Guitar Artistry of 

Charlie Byrd (Riverside/Analogue Productions 

RS 9451), so relaxing yet stimulating 

was the musical presentation 


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against a mesmerizingly velvet-black 

background. I can think of no CD player 

at any price that can deliver what this 

combination managed in terms of sheer 

musical and sonic pleasure. Forget about 

what the experience of switching back 

to the Caliburn produced. You don’t 

want to know, and it wouldn’t be fair. 

I’d rather say that the combination 

of Thorens TD 350 and SME M2 produced 

an extraordinarily well-balanced 

musical experience. There was weight 

and control on bottom, which helped 

provide a firm rhythmic foundation. 

Kick drums had a powerfully tactile 

quality. There wasn’t a hint of midbass 

bloat: the mids were rich, full, and 

nicely detailed. And the top was sweet, 

yet vibrant and extended. 

But forget all that. Many analog 

front-ends can produce all the pieces of 

the sonic puzzle; they just can’t seamlessly 

assemble those pieces into a 

coherent sonic picture. This combo 

did, and I suspect the TD 350 will do 

the same with cartridges other than the 

Maesto. For next time, I promise to put 

the Maestro on my Graham Phantom 

arm, which is now mounted on the 

ANALOG CORNER 

Caliburn, and let you know the results. 

For now, for anyone who wants to just 

play records, or to get into analog in a 

user-friendly way, sonically and 

ergonomically, the Thorens-SME- 

Clearaudio is a great way to go. My 

only criticisms of the TD 350 are of 

the incomplete instructions for adjusting 

and leveling the springs, which is 

key to getting the most from the ’table; 

the haphazardly cut felt platter mat; 

and the lack of a ground lug. I had a 

typical moving-magnet buzz that I 

could solve only by running a ground 

wire from a screw on the SME arm to 

the ground lug of my Manley Steelhead 

phono preamp. 

Can you get crisper, leaner, speedier 

sound, with more detail and finerpitched 

images? Yes. And depending 

on your system and tastes, you may 

prefer that kind of sound. But for that 

classic “suspended-turntable sound” 

done to perfection, without the soft, 

bottom-end discontinuity and bloat 

often heard from such designs, 

Thorens’ TD 350 with SME M2 and 

Clearaudio Maestro would be difficult 

to better. 

VPI HW-27 Typhoon 

record-cleaning machine 

Imitation may be the sincerest form of 

flattery, but I suspect Harry Weisfeld is 

fed up with all the flattery from his imitators. 

He invented and introduced the 

felt-lipped vacuum record-cleaning 

machine more than 25 years ago, with 

the original HW-16. I wonder how 

many audiophiles now familiar with the 

HW designs remember when the feltlips 

mechanism was built into the cleaner’s 

cover. Or that the cleaner’s wooden 

platter was inexplicably covered with a 

glued-on, fluid-absorbing foam mat. Or 

that the vacuumed-up fluid emptied 

into the chipboard cabinet, which eventually 

got saturated, soggy, and warped. 

Or when VPI added an internal liquidcatching 

vessel, along with a number of 

other upgrades. 

I do. The HW-16 was replaced by 

the far superior HW-16.5. Later, VPI 

introduced the quieter, more powerful 

HW-17, which included a fluid reservoir 

and a pump-driven applicator 

brush, as well as a bidirectional platter 

and a more powerful vacuum. The 

HW-17F, still in production, added a 

De ed[ ademi WdWbe] b_a[ Cki_Y :_h[Yj 

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The AVID Acutus is one of the world’s finest suspended turntables. 

Nothing can faze this table’s rock-solid performance and it’s absolutely 

gorgeous, as well. A work of art in every sense! 

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From the minds of Ed Meitner and his team of engineers, the new CDSA-SE 

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an appropriately windstorm-like 

whoosh. More 

important, the more powerful 

vacuum motor and 

pump sucked up all of the 

cleaning fluid, drying an LP 

in a single rapid revolution— 

a definite improvement. 

Did the HW-27 

Typhoon’s more powerful 

vacuum help me hear previously 

buried musical details 

that the HW-17F or Loricraft 

hadn’t revealed? I can’t 

say, nor can I even posit 

how or why it might have. 

Otherwise, the Typhoon is 

a clean, efficient record-cleaning 

machine that’s almost fun to use. And 

it’s made in the US, and so is a relative 

bargain compared to the overseas competition. 

CONTACTS 

Jan Allaerts, Belgium. Web: http:// 

users.pandora.be/jallaerts/. 

Stax Limited, 7-1 Chikumazawahigashi, 

Miyoshi-machi, Iruma-Gun, 

Saitama Prefecture, Japan 354- 

0046. Tel: (81) 49-258-3988. Fax: 

(81) 49-258-2659. Web: 

www.stax.co.jp. US distributor: 

Yama’s Enterprises, Inc., 16617 S. 

Normandie Avenue, Suite C, Gardena, 

CA 90247. Tel: (310) 327-3913. 

Fax: (310) 324-7422. Web: www. 

yamasinc.com. 

Thorens Services AG, Im Junkholz 

44, 4303 Kaiseraugst, Switzerland. 

Fax:(41) 61-813-03-39. Web: 

www.thorens.com. US distributor: 2 

Channel Distribution, 1500 South 

Ninth Street, Salina, KS 67401. Tel: 

(785) 820-2931. Web: www.2chan 

neldistribution.com. 

VPI Industries Inc., 77 Cliffwood 

Avenue, #3B, Cliffwood, NJ 07721- 

1087. Tel: (732) 583-6895. Fax: 

(732) 946-8578. Web: www.vpi 

industries.com. (Note: www.vpi.com 

is a vendor of legless reptiles: “The 

on-line source for boas, pythons & 

sandboas!”) 

Wireworld Cable Technology, 

12349 SW 53rd Street, Suite 201, 

Cooper City, FL 33330. Tel: (954) 

680-3848. Fax: (954) 680-1525. 

Web: www.wireworldcable.com. 

ANALOG CORNER 

The Stax SR-007 Electrostatic Earspeaker and SRM-007tII 

vacuum tube driver unit. 

Stax SR-007II Omega II 

Electrostatic Earspeaker 

and SRM-007tII tube amplifier 

I know this isn’t strictly analog, but have 

mercy! I’ve wanted to hear Stax’s Earspeakers 

for decades, and when the 

opportunity presented itself, I couldn’t 

say no. The SRM-007tII is a three-input, 

tube-powered energizer/amplifier capable 

of powering two sets of Stax electrostatic 

headphones. 1 It includes a volume 

control, which means you can base a 

headphone audio system on it. You can 

also use it as a swell late-night accessory 

by driving it from your preamp’s Tape 

Out, though at $3900 for the amplifier 

plus headphones, it’s a pricey accessory. 

I spent a few months of very-latenight 

listening with the extraordinary 

Staxes, which had all the pluses and 

minuses of electrostatic loudspeakers. 

They were superbly open, transparent, 

extended, “fast,” and subjectively linear. 

On the other hand, even as earpieces firing 

into tiny canals, their dynamics were 

somewhat limited compared to the best 

moving-coil headphones, such as AKG 

701s, and while the SR-007II’s bass 

response was very good—especially as 

Stax has increased the size of the 

diaphragm—it, too, lacked the punch and 

impact of a good dynamic driver. So even 

in headphones, the well-known tradeoffs 

of electrostatic drive-units persist. 

That said, the combination of tube 

warmth and electrostatic transparency, 

plus superb build quality and a very 

comfortable fit, added up to a Class A 

listening experience. I was sorry to 

have to return them. If you’ve got 

plenty of money and a music-loving 

kid in college, you could give him or 

her a heck of a dorm-room hi-fi. ■■ 

1 Jonathan Scull reviewed the Stax SR-007II for Stereophile 

in July 2001—see www.stereophile.com/headphones/ 

895. —Ed. 

“ From the first second you can feel that this is 

"high end". Voices are splendid, superbly centered 

with perfect tone quality. A complete success. 

A piano is transcribed with a rare sensibility... 

These qualities and much more than these were 

found integrally when listening. The maturity 

of the A4 reveals a very advanced optimization. 

The design and price are two other strong points. 

A superb success.” 

JEAN HIRAGA 

Revue du Son et du Home Cinéma 


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Today is Monday, February 5, and 

it’s so buttercupping cold outside 

that the custodian couldn’t get 

our school’s oil burner started. 

Consequently, my daughter is home 

for the day, playing on the rug in front 

of the fireplace. (Santa brought a 

wooden castle and a fine selection of 

medieval figurines, some of which are 

headed for the dungeon as we speak.) 

I’m at my desk in the music room, on 

the upwind side of the house—and the 

wind is murder. The west wall is cold. 

The north wall is cold. The floorboards 

are cold. But the air 

inside is warm as toast: 

I’m driving my Quad 

ESL speakers with a 

Joule Electra VZN-80 

amplifier ($12,000) that 

isn’t at all bashful about 

squandering a goodly 

amount of energy as 

heat. I can’t think of a 

more delightful quality 

for an amp to have, at 

least on a day like this. 

The Joule Electra’s 

warmth comes from 

more than just its use of 

vacuum tubes, and 

more than just its class- 

A design. It runs warm 

because it’s an outputtransformerless 

(OTL) 

tube amplifier. 

That’s a really horrid oversimplification. 

Let me back up a bit… 

As a power source, an audio tube has 

a naturally high impedance: It isn’t 

good at supplying high current for a 

given voltage, so it has a hard time 

developing power across a load, at least 

on its own. A loudspeaker, on the other 

hand, is a low-impedance load, and it 

requires a fair amount of current in 

order to do any real work. 

The classic means for bridging those 

two otherwise unbridgeable qualities is 

an output transformer, the primary coil 

of which is also used to conduct DC to 

one or more of the tube’s electrodes. 

The drawbacks of such a thing are 

obvious, and while there exists a wide 

range of quality from the good ones to 

the bad ones and back, it simply can’t 

IMAGES: ART DUDLEY 

LISTENING 

Art Dudley 

Joule Electra VZN-80 tubed power amplifier 

be denied that output transformers 

tend to compress amplitude, limit 

bandwidth, shift phase, and ring like 

cowbells (mu!) to one extent or another. 

Good ones also cost a lot of money. 

For as long as output transformers 

have existed, there have been designers 

who’ve tried to dispense with them 

altogether. None is better known than 

New Yorker Julius Futterman, whose 

pioneering work in the 1950s gained 

sufficient fame that, among some hobbyists, 

the terms OTL amp and Futterman 

amp are used interchangeably—to 

The Joule Electra VZN-80 amplifier, seen here without its acrylic top plate. 

the great discomfiture of still others. 

Futterman’s predecessors in the 

OTL genre strove to create an output 

section whose impedance is low 

enough to drive a loudspeaker directly—and, 

of course, the most natural 

way to reduce a tube’s output impedance 

is to configure it as a cathode follower. 

That’s precisely the trick they 

used, in all of the very first OTL amps. 

But because a cathode follower 

requires a much larger input signal than 

other configurations—thus opening the 

door to the same level of distortion that 

one hoped to avoid by ditching the 

output trannie in the first place—none 

of those early amps can honestly be 

considered successful. Besides, when a 

designer goes from a single-ended 

cathode-follower output to a push-pull 

cathode-follower output, in a reason- 

able effort toward generating reasonable 

power, he or she doubles the output 

impedance by comparison. Back to 

the starting line. 

Futterman’s idea was to use two separate 

output tubes—or groups thereof—in 

such a way that one was a cathode follower 

and the other was a regular “common 

cathode” output device. That 

arrangement, known as a single-ended 

push-pull (SEPP) output section, had 

been used to create OTL amplifiers in 

the past, but Futterman added a clever 

twist: He tied the cathode resistor of his 

full-wave, auto-bias input 

tube to the top of the 

loudspeaker load, to create 

a signal-imbalanced 

drive for the inherently 

signal-imbalanced SEPP 

output section, thus producing 

a signal-balanced 

waveform of reasonably 

high current. Notwithstanding 

certain drawbacks, 

such as a lack of 

immunity from DC offset 

and the need for at 

least some negative feedback, 

Futterman’s solution 

was a good one, and 

his amplifiers are generally 

considered the first 

truly successful commercial 

OTLs. 

A Different Architecture 

Throughout this time, there was yet 

another, very different output architecture 

floating 1 around in Tubeland: the 

bridge amplifier—or, as the Electro- 

Voice company called it in 1954, the 

Circlotron. In this remarkably elegant 

design, two output tubes are arranged in 

a push-pull cathode-follower scheme 

(ie, the loudspeaker load appears in the 

cathode circuits of both tubes), with 

their anodes tied to two separate power 

supplies that float above ground. 

The Circlotron wasn’t conceived as 

an OTL, although its inherently low 

output impedance (think: cathode 

drive) was touted with the suggestion 

1 Believe it or not, that’s a joke—albeit not a very funny 

one. 


that the amp could be built with a significantly 

smaller and thus significantly 

cheaper output transformer than usual. 

And although the ends of the loudspeaker 

load were tied to the bottoms 

of two power supplies, the opposing 

polarities meant that DC voltage was 

canceled out across the load. Very tidy, 

all in all. 

The Circlotron’s praises did not go 

unsung, and while it never gained the 

popularity of other output architectures, 

its potential was appreciated by a few 

inquisitive designers. Chief among those 

was Minnesota’s Ralph Karsten, who 

created the first commercially viable 

Circlotron OTL amplifier in 1989. 

Karsten’s amp, the Atma-Sphere MA-1, 

didn’t have quite as low an output 

impedance as other OTLs, and in fact 

required an auxiliary autoformer for use 

with loads of very low impedance. But 

the single-stage MA-1 was the first truly 

reliable OTL amplifier on the market, 

owing in large part to its sheer design 

elegance: Going from a SEPP circuit to 

that of an MA-1 is like hearing an especially 

bothersome chord find its resolution 

at the end of a phrase. As a consequence, 

Karsten’s place in OTL history 

was secured. (Sadly, he has also become 

known for denigrating the achievements 

of fellow designers past and present, 

including the late Julius Futterman himself, 

whose circuit “should never have 

seen the light of day,” according to 

Karsten. See www.atma-sphere.com/ 

papers/otl.html.) 

That brings us to Joule Electra, 

founded in the early 1990s by retired 

chemical engineer Jud Barber and 

named in honor of his lovely wife, Marianne 

Electra Barber. (It was originally 

going to be called Muse Electra, but 

someone else got to the Muse part first.) 

Barber became interested in electronics 

as a kid, and built a number of amps 

from scratch in the 1950s. But it wasn’t 

until the late 1980s, when a friend 

loaned him some contemporary tube 

electronics, that Barber considered 

making amplifiers for a living. (“Why 

screw up a perfectly good hobby?” is 

how he explains his earlier point of 

view.) As luck would have it, the borrowed 

amps included a modern OTL 

design—and the spark was, well, sparked. 

Barber’s first commercial product 

was the Joule Electra LA-100 preamplifier, 

which has sold well since its release 

in 1991. Key to the LA-100’s performance 

is Barber’s unique implementation 

of a classic mu-follower circuit, in 

which a tube configured as a common 

LISTENING 

cathode drives a tube 

configured as a cathode 

follower, the latter 

functioning as a constant 

current source for 

the former. The mu 

follower produces a lot 

of voltage gain, and 

Barber says it gives him 

the operating range he 

prefers for his tubes—a 

conclusion he reached 

after countless hours of 

good old-fashioned listening. 

Imagine. 

More or less the 

same mu-follower circuit—doubled up 

and configured as a differential amplifier—is 

used to drive a Circlotron output 

section in all Joule Electra OTL amps. 

Notwithstanding his admiration for 

Karsten’s single-stage OTL, Barber 

opted for extra gain so that he could 

apply a little negative feedback—or at 

least give the user an option to dial it 

in. Even without feedback, the 80Wpc 

VZN-80 amplifier I’ve been using has 

a usably low output impedance of 10 

ohms. This is accomplished by using 

multiple output tubes in parallel—in 

this case, the already-low-impedance 

6C33C—in which scheme their impedance 

falls like that of a resistor, and is 

subject to the very same mathematical 

formula. [Each doubling of the number of 

parallel tubes/resistors halves the total 

impedance.—Ed.] 

And that’s where the heat comes in: 

Like most OTLs, the VZN uses lots of 

output tubes, and that 6C33C has a 

very large radiating surface, as these 

things go. Voilà: It’s a music amplifier 

and a space heater! 

Big and Beautiful 

Like all Joule Electra amplifiers, the 

VZN-80 is big and beautiful, crafted 

into a neat wooden chassis that cradles 

the parts just so, in order to shrug off 

troublesome vibrations without similarly 

troublesome mass. Near the top is 

a large circuit board that’s mostly 

devoid of circuit traces—hookup wire 

and the component leads themselves 

are used to make most of the connections—while 

various chokes and 

power-supply caps reside at the bottom 

of the box. Electrical energy is rectified, 

divided, isolated, smoothed, and 

stored in the main chassis, but it’s supplied 

by a beautifully finished external 

box containing an old-style Variac, 

included in the price of every Joule 

Electra OTL amp. 

Continuous. Not. Choppy. 

To the hobbyist who isn’t used to 

interacting with an amplifier—my Quad 

II monoblocks don’t even have on/off 

switches—the VZN-80 will come as a 

surprise. The Variac’s main control is a 

gloriously huge old knob that will have 

you crying, Hurry, Fritz, the storm is nearly 

at its peak!! every time you power up 

your hi-fi system. Apart from that, my 

Joule Electra loaner included 14 potentiometers 

(12 for adjusting bias on individual 

tubes, 2 for dialing in various 

amounts of negative feedback), 14 

pushbuttons (for selecting which of 

those pots is to be activated at any 

given time), two toggle switches (for 

muting the left- and right-channel 

input jacks, when needed), and a digital 

voltage display. 

But I hesitate to mention the above, 

for one very good reason: Once I had it 

up and running, and after I’d checked a 

few times to ensure that the various 

values weren’t drifting (initial settings 

are made at the factory), the VZN-80 

was remarkably stable—not to mention 

noiseless, humless, and unfailingly reliable. 

It demanded only that I pay attention 

to whatever record was playing at 

a given moment. 

What did a modern, well-made 

OTL amplifier sound like driving my 

50-year-old Quad ESLs? The combination 

was downright dreamy. My friend 

Harvey Rosenberg, who died in the 

summer of 2001, spoke passionately 

about a great many things in domestic 

audio, but few ideas fired his imagination 

as much as the pairing of Quad 

electrostatic loudspeakers with OTL 

tube amps—and I finally know why. 

Took me long enough. 

The sound of the Joule Electra 

VZN-80 was much like my memory 

of the fine Atma-Sphere M-60 OTL 

amplifier, which I wrote about for Listener 

10 years ago. The Joule was 

remarkably neutral: as colorless an 


amplifier as I’ve ever heard, regardless 

of parts or circuit design. Malcolm 

Arnold’s recording of his own Symphony 

5 (LP, EMI ASD 2878) is filled 

with lots of delicious-sounding instruments—celeste, 

glockenspiel, saxophone, 

and some vivid writing for 

trumpet and clarinet—and the VZN-80 

did a much-better-than-average job of 

letting those sounds sound like themselves. 

In a similar sense, it was a faithful, 

believable re-creator of vocal 

sounds from classical and popular 

recordings alike. Choral music, such as 

John Adams’ moving On the Transmigration 

of Souls (CD, Nonesuch 79816-2), 

benefited from the Joule Electra’s good 

sense of scale, and clearly delineated 

soundfield depth as well. 

The VZN-80 was also a remarkably 

textured amp. Acoustic guitars and 

mandolins sounded as if they were made 

of deeply grained wood and strung with 

steel-and-bronze strings. At the other 

end of the spectrum, the plucked violins 

toward the end of the first movement of 

Brahms’ Symphony 2, with Pierre Monteux 

conducting the London Symphony 

(LP, Philips/Speakers Corner 0835 

167), popped out of the soundfield in a 

manner that escapes even my sweet little 

Quad IIs. 

At times I thought the Joule Electra 

had a little too much texture, as in 

Leonard Bernstein’s emotionally rich 

recording of Barber’s Adagio for Strings 

(in this instance, from a preciously but 

not inappropriately titled Bernstein 

CD collection, A Total Embrace: The 

Conductor, Sony/Legacy S3K 90578). 

The highest notes of the violins were a 

little overcooked—too much rosin, too 

much vibrato—but I suppose that may 

have been the truth, and in any event 

I’d prefer that to the comparative sterility 

and exaggerated smoothness of 

other amplifiers. 

The VZN-80’s only other notable 

shortcoming was its lack of tightness 

and timing accuracy in the bass—especially 

on uptempo pop records, which 

sounded more sluggish and less exciting 

than through my Naim 110 or 

even my Fi 2A3 Stereo amplifier. But 

the former lacks the Joule Electra’s 

believably fleshed-out midrange—Jud 

Barber calls it timbral bouquet, which is 

a better way of describing it than anything 

else I’ve heard lately—and the 

latter doesn’t have the same combination 

of musical immediacy and 

reasonably high power. Using the 

VZN-80’s top-mounted pots to dial in 

some negative feedback helped tight- 

LISTENING 

en the bass, of course, but I found that 

even small amounts of feedback 

detracted from the amplifier’s other 

charms. I enjoyed doing most of my 

listening without it. 

In all, my Joule Electra experience 

was a heavenly one—as one would 

expect from a thoroughly handmade 

amplifier of this caliber. The basic 

VZN-80 retails for $12,000, with a 

number of extra-cost options available, 

including a chassis made of solid, 

instrument-grade tonewood (as 

opposed to the marine plywood used 

as standard), which is actually tuned 

like the soundboard of a guitar and finished 

in the color of one’s choice. 

Other Joule Electra models offer 

increasing levels of output power, all 

the way up to the 350Wpc VZN-350 

monoblocks, which sell for a notunreasonable 

$30,000/pair. Warm 

wishes, indeed. 

Long-term Receptacle Failure 

In my column in the November 2003 

Stereophile, I described the advantages, 

theoretical and real, of replacing an 

audio room’s AC receptacles with the 

premium-quality replacements offered 

by PS Audio. It seemed to me at the 

time that the Power Port ($49.95), a 

hospital-grade dual receptacle made to 

PSA specs by the Hubbell Corporation, 

offered easier installation, better 

sound, and a tighter grip on my equipment’s 

AC plugs than any of the other 

sockets I’d tried. 

Those first two qualities remain 

unfazed, but the third has gone to hell 

in a handbasket. While I hesitated to 

mention this the first time it happened, 

I must now report that the 

ground-lug contacts on two of the 

three Power Ports I installed in my hifi 

room have failed: The opposing contact 

surfaces appear to have become 

bent or dislodged just enough that 

they now converge toward one another 

near the opening, resisting entry by 

all but the most compact, pointyended 

plugs. Maturity and good taste 

have prevented me from reaching for 

any of a number of cheap, obvious 

sexual metaphors. 

Granted, as someone who swaps 

components in and out of my system 

with crazy regularity, I put a higherthan-usual 

strain on my Power Ports. 

Still, for a product that costs several times 

the price of even the good Hubbell 

products available from other sources, 

this receptacle ain’t acceptable. I encourage 

PS Audio to find a cure. ■■ 


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As you will have 

found from reading 

Stereophile’s 

live on-line coverage 

of the 2007 

Consumer Electronics 

Show, held in Las 

Vegas last January—see 

http://blog.stereophile. 

com/ces2007—the venue for 

high-end audio at the annual 

Consumer Electronics Show 

has been shifted from the 

motel-like Alexis Park Hotel 

to the rooms and suites of 

the Venetian Hotel and Casino. 

It will take a while to 

learn the Venetian’s lanes 

and byways, but some audiorelated 

problems are already 

apparent. Most of the larger 

rooms, on the meeting-room 

floors, suffer greatly from a lack of isolation 

(separation was provided by 

flimsy, movable partition walls), 

strange proportions (in most, the greatest 

dimension was height), tray ceilings 

(read: chancy and irregular room 

modes), and a general lack of acoustic 

considerations. 

One of the best-sounding of those 

rooms was chock-full of Echo Buster 

products. Head Buster Michael 

Kochmann said that he was getting 

many requests for his products, and 

while he would have loved to have had 

them displayed in many rooms, he 

needed all he had for his own display. 

Others had to coordinate their demos 

with their neighbors: simultaneous adjacent 

demos would have meant cacophony 

for all. It was great to see our 

friends playing nicely with each other. 

There was more cause for optimism 

upstairs at the Venetian. The larger 

suites were the sites of some really 

great demos, such as that of the new 

TAD Reference One loudspeakers, in 

a multichannel system of staggering 

proportions. Even the smaller rooms 

were, on the whole, more acoustically 

friendly than those at the Alexis. Still, 

as usual, there were winners and losers, 

suggesting that demonstrators with 

setup talent will always make a better 

showing. But the best aspect of the 

MUSIC IN THE ROUND 

Kalman Rubinson 

The 2007 CES & the Mark Levinson No.433 power amplifier 

Editor John Atkinson photographs a very proud Kevin Voecks as he shows off his new 

Ultima Salon2 speaker and the award received from Stereophile for the 

Revel Concerta F12, one of our “Budget Products of 2006.” 

new venue, in my opinion, is that the 

Venetian’s wide variety of accommodations 

could draw back to a single central 

site companies that for years have 

exhibited off-site at other hotels. 

I didn’t see much progress in multichannel 

audio-only sound at CES. 

There were a few multichannel demos, 

but for the most part the high-end 

audio industry seems to be marking 

time while it waits for a new 

audio/video 

format to take 

center stage. 

Having been 

burned by 

investing in 

the hardware 

for SACD and 

DVD-Audio, 

the specialtyaudio 

industry 

is letting the 

big boys and 

the mass market 

figure out 

what that format 

will be. 

Sure, Dolby 

and DTS each 

offer a lossless, high-resolution, multichannel 

format eminently suited to 

serious sound for both Blu-ray and 

HD DVD, but until the war being 

fought over hi-rez 

video formats is 

resolved, high-end 

audio manufacturers 

and the major record 

labels are content to 

watch from the sidelines. 

There was notable 

interest at CES in 

wireless audio and 

video transmission. 

Driven mostly by 

modish interconnectivity 

issues, wireless 

transmission can 

have great impact on 

multichannel audio. 

In most domestic 

environments, where 

to run the necessary 

wires for just two 

channels can lead to arguments; when 

the number of channels triples, a family 

crisis is almost assured. Following 

the 2006 CES, I reported on the development 

of 802.11a/g/n-based wireless 

audio speakers by Australia’s Avega 

Systems. This year, Avega had gone 

OEM, but their partner, WebeckMolloy 

(www.webeckmolloy.com), 

demonstrated the truly high-end wireless 

speaker featured in my YouTube 

Theta’s Valis processor and Virtu digital amp are digital through and through 

using a quartet of S/PDIF-like connectors to link them. 

debut (www.youtube.com/watch?v= 

MfMWe1G7s10). 

Even more relevant to this column 

was the demonstration of a complete 


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set of wireless multichannel audio and 

video components from Neosonik 

(www.neosonik.com), including an 

A/V controller-transmitter, receivers, 

and a slew of 

speakers in two 

series. The 

biggest speaker, 

the Series 6 

Tower, isn’t the 

most graceful 

design, but it was 

m a k i n g 

respectable 

sound with only 

an AC wire. 

(Yes, you still 

need one to 

power the wireless 

receiver, the 

DSP, and multiple 

power amps.) 

Among the less 

conventional 

devices shown 

was a nearlyready-for-primetime 

duo from 

Theta Digital: 

their Valis preamplifier-processor 

and Virtu 150Wx7 power amplifier. The 

Valis and Virtu may not look unusual 

(though they do look nice), but, as I 

learned when I saw the prototypes last 

year, the combo is completely digital 

from pre-pro input to power-amp output 

because 1) they’re interconnected by four 

digital cables running S/PDIF-compatible 

signals up to 24-bits/192kHz, and 2) 

the Virtu is a digitally controlled PWM 

(class-D) amplifier running at 1MHz 

whose signal is converted to analog only 

at its output. 

Also unconventional was the 

stealthy Magnepan woofer. Magnepan’s 

Wendell Diller made a strong 

case, verbally and by demonstration, 

for the development of a fast but unobtrusive 

woofer to extend the lower end 

of Magnepan’s small but otherwise 

worthy wall-mounted speakers—not a 

true sub for extreme sound effects, but 

the prototype’s planar-dynamic drivers 

made it as “fast” as the satellites. I heard 

it, but it was invisible until Diller 

pointed to where it was posing as an 

end-table. 

Staying with the low end, SVS 

showed the prototype of an Audysseybased 

subwoofer controller-equalizer 

that may be a killer app. Adapting 

Audyssey’s MultEQ technology to a 

dedicated subwoofer EQ, the Audyssey- 


The Magnepan woofer masquerading as a lamp 

table. This modified planar-dynamic speaker can 

connect to up to three wall-mounted Maggies with 

independent crossover settings for each. 

SVS Digital Audio Correction Device 

can handle up to eight measurement 

positions and has independent equalization 

for two subwoofers. 

Less unusual 

but equally compelling 

was the 

prototype of 

Parasound’s P7 

multichannel 

analog preamplifier, 

a product 

category close to 

my heart. I asked 

Richard Schram 

if the P7 has flexible 

analog bass 

management, 

XLR inputs and 

outputs, channel 

and input-level 

balancing, if all of 

the above is 

accessible from 

the remote con- 

trol, and if the P7 

has a MM/MC 

phono input. His 

answer was 

always ‘yes.’ And 

yes, an empty 

place on my equipment rack awaits it. 

Mark Levinson No.433 

three-channel power amplifier 

Good things come in threes, they say. 

Well, three-channel power amps suit 

me just fine. My main component rack 

is at the back of 

the room, so I 

split power 

duties between 

a two-channel 

amp under the 

rack to drive my 

rear-channel 

B&W 804S 

speakers and, 

way at the front, 

either three 

monoblocks or a three-channel amp 

for the front three B&W 802Ds. I do 

this to ensure that the timbre of the 

front three channels is consistent. The 

outstanding performance of the 

Simaudio Moon W-8 dual-mono 

power amp (Stereophile, March 2006) 

almost tempted me to go with a stereo 

amp and a monoblock, but voicing and 

balancing a multichannel system with 

equanimity makes me want as much 

simplicity as possible. I guess manufacturers 

and users see it the same way; 

many new three-channel amps are 

coming on the market. 

I first saw the Mark Levinson 

No.433 at the 2006 CEDIA Expo, and 

immediately asked about getting one 

for review—I’d never had a Levinson 

amp in my system, and this one 

seemed perfect for my setup. It looked 

relatively sleek and compact for its 

impressive specs, and besides, I just 

wanted it. (All specs are at www. 

marklevinson.com/products/ 

overview.asp?cat=pa&prod=no433.) 

ML calls the No.433 a “triple 

monaural” amp because each channel is 

supported by its own power supply 

consisting of a 684VA transformer and 

48,000μF of filtering and storage. 1 Each 

channel has balanced and unbalanced 

inputs, is fully balanced through all the 

voltage-amplification stages, and is built 

on its own Arlon PC board, which is 

supported and connected to its individual 

power supply by bus bars of oxygen-free 

copper. Fault sensing includes 

detection of DC on the output, excessive 

output current flow, over- or 

undervoltage at the AC input, and 

unsafe temperatures anywhere in the 

amp. In addition, ML says that there’s a 

controlled clipping circuit that both 

prevents the output devices from saturating 

and, by a wave-shaping action, 

eliminates HF harmonics that would 

be generated by clipping. Real-world 

bottom line: The No.433 costs $10,000, 

puts out 200Wpc into 8 ohms or 

400Wpc into 4 ohms, and weighs 122 

lbs (55.5kg). 

The sleek chassis of the Levinson No.433 amp is a disguise. It contains 3 

high-performance 200W monoblock channels. 

So it was with great effort that I single-handedly 

maneuvered the No.433 

into place between my front left and 

center 802Ds. The handles on the rear 

panel were a big help, and transferring 

the cables from the Bel Canto 

REF1000 monoblocks was a snap. I 

used the No.433’s XLR inputs, so it 

was necessary to first remove the pin 

1–3 shorting straps and save them for 

1 “Monaural” literally means “single-eared,” which may 

be fine for listening, but we prefer “monophonic” when 

referring to single-channel products. —Ed. 


future use of the amp’s RCA inputs. 

The No.433’s output terminals have 

big-eared plastic nuts that let me clamp 

down the spade lugs firmly but easily. 

Of course, the nuts are plastic only on 

the outside; gold-plated, high-current, 

custom-made parts make the electrical 

connections. Also on the rear panel are 

a Power/Save mode switch, two 1 ⁄8" 

remote trigger jacks, an RS-232 port, 

two Link2 communications ports, and 

a switched IEC AC input. 

On the front panel, below the Mark 

Levinson logo, is an LED that indicates 

the amp’s operational status: Off = AC 

off; Dim = Sleep with power supply 

off, only supervisory circuit active; 

Slow Blink = Standby with power supply 

on, voltage gain stages powered, 

output stage off; On = On with everything 

fully operational. In Sleep mode, 

the supervisory circuit draws less than 

15W, compared with draws of 75W in 

Standby and 375W in On—even with 

no signal. To lessen my contribution to 

global warming, I kept the amp in 

Standby most of the time it was not 

being used, even though it had formerly 

been my habit to leave all my amps 

on all the time. If I was going to be 

away for the weekend, I let it Sleep. 

Below the LED is the Standby button 

and the AC Power switch. Operation 

begins with pushing the Power button 

once, then Standby once, to shift the 

No.433 from Sleep to Standby. After a 

two-second delay, the Standby switch 

toggles the amp between Standby and 

On. Press and hold it and the amp goes 

to Sleep. It worked just that way, and 

although the LED will also indicate various 

fault conditions, I failed to evoke 

any. Nor did the No.433 produce excessive 

heat or any fan noise—it has no fan. 

Despite its size, power, and appetite for 

current, the No.433 is a fully domesticated 

device. 

I used the No.433 briefly with Pioneer 

S-1EX speakers that I reviewed in 

March, but it spent—still spends—most 

of its time running the B&Ws, which it 

did superbly. At first I heard little difference 

between the No.433 and the 

other amps on hand, and that was as it 

should be. Products as refined and 

demanding as these shouldn’t offer 

widely divergent tonal or dynamic presentations. 

But as I listened to a widening 

range of music, the particularities 

of the Levinson became apparent. 

First, the No.433’s dynamics and 

transient response were beyond 

reproach. Although rated at only (!) 

200Wpc, the Levinson was easily as 


potent, subjectively, as any amp that 

has passed through this system. Chalk 

this up to its sophisticated balanced circuitry, 

its individual power supplies for 

each channel, or whatever else contributes 

to its 122 lbs, but the supposedly 

power-hungry 802Ds never asked 

for second helpings. The soundstage 

was as wide as I’ve ever heard with 

these speakers, and satisfyingly deep. 

The No.433’s midrange clarity was 

its forte, and served recorded voices very 

RECORDINGS IN THE ROUND 

SIBELIUS: Kullervo 

Charlotte Hellekant, mezzo-soprano; Nathan 

Gunn, baritone; Men of the ASO Chorus, Atlanta 

Symphony Orchestra; Robert Spano 

Telarc SACD-60665 (SACD) 

In an embarrassment of riches, this is the best of 

three new multichannel SACDs of Sibelius’ early 

bardic masterwork. The competing release, with 

Colin Davis and the London Symphony (LSO Live 

LSO0574), is well played and has great soloists, 

but is hampered by dismembered sound and 

Davis’ sluggish pace (it really sags in the complex 

meter that opens Kullervo Goes to Battle). The 

alternative, with Ari Rasilainen and the Rheinland- 

Pfalz State Philharmonic 

(CPO 777 196-2), has an 

outstanding chorus and 

stylish phrasing, but the 

sound is distant and the 

orchestra is simply not as 

capable as the LSO or ASO. 

Spano’s version, however, 

sounds better with every 

hearing. His pacing and 

attention to the unusual 

rhythms is excellent, the 

orchestral performances 

are thrilling, and the sound 

is both more coherent and 

more colorful than the 

SACD competition. If you 

love Sibelius’ symphonies, don’t miss this. 

SAINT-SAËNS: Symphony 3, “Organ” 

POULENC: Organ Concerto 

BARBER: Toccata Festiva 

Olivier Latry, organ; Christoph Eschenbach, 

Philadelphia Orchestra 

Ondine ODE 1094-5 

(SACD) 

The inauguration of 

Verizon Hall’s new 

organ has been preserved 

for all of us in 

one of the most outstanding 

SACDs yet. 

Somehow, producer 

Martha de Francisco 

and her team (assisted 

by Polyhymnia) 

have captured the 

detail, sweetness, and 

power of the orchestra, 

as well as the 

organ’s pipes and 

pedals, in a recording that is more than a sound 

spectacular. Latry, Eschenbach, et al offer stylish 

and moving performances of these three major 

pieces for organ and orchestra; the applause that 

follows each is well deserved. The Saint-Saëns, in 

particular, is absent the vehemence of some other 

vaunted recordings, and is presented as a romantic 

symphony with organ rather than as an organ concerto. 

It seems that I’ve only just turned in my 2007 

“Records To Die For” nominations, but this is clearly 

the front-runner for my 2008 list. 

THE DOORS: Perception 

Rhino 8122776452 (6 CDs, 6 DVDs) 

well. From baritone to soprano (I’ll deal 

with the basses next), the Levinson 

allowed both the B&W 802Ds and Pioneer 

S-1EXs to seem just a bit more 

revealing and empathetic than before. It 

wasn’t so much a highlighting or 

midrange emphasis as a complete lack 

of grain or confusion. Next, I noticed 

that I could consistently discern, at relatively 

low SPLs, details in the bass that I 

had heretofore heard only at much 

higher volume levels. Again, this was 

This set’s over-the-top packaging (the box has a 

gauzy “Viewmaster” slideshow glimpsed through 

the peephole of a door) is appropriate for the 

unrestrained performances of the original recordings 

and some fascinating live video performances. 

Producer Bruce Botnick has sacrificed none of the 

Doors’ raw passion for the increased communication 

of the multichannel mixes. The restoration is a 

great success in stereo and in DTS 5.1 multichannel, 

revealing nuances and phrasings often covered 

or muted in the originals. If this is your kind of 

thing (and you know it), go for it. 

MAHLER: Symphony 2, “Resurrection” 

Lisa Milne, soprano; Birgit Remmert, 

alto; Hungarian Radio Choir, 

Budapest Festival Orchestra; Iván Fischer 

Channel Classics CCS SA 23506 

(SACD) 

I know: more Mahler. But here’s 

another I find irresistible, and in performance 

and sound it’s an advance 

on Fischer and the BFO’s recording 

of Mahler’s Symphony 6. From the 

opening bars, this “Resurrection” 

reminded me of the electricity, if not 

the speed, of Bernstein’s recording 

with the New York Philharmonic for 

CBS. It pulls you in and on with 

urgency. The Andante, too, is perfectly 

hewn and played beautifully. In fact, had not the 

intensity eased off a bit in the final movement, this 

would be a nigh perfect performance for me. Even 

so, it’s so well recorded and performed, and so 

infused with passion, that it easily becomes one of 

my favorites. 

CRUMB: Makrokosmos I & II 

Margaret Leng Tan, piano 

Mode 142 (DVD-Video) 

SCELSI: Quatro Pezzi, Uaxuctum, 

La nascita del Verbo* 

Peter Rundel, Johannes Kalitzke,* 

conductors; Vienna Radio Symphony 

Orchestra 

Mode 176 (Audio Only DVD-Video) 

Mode Records has one of the most 

fascinating and diverse catalogs of 

new music, and is releasing many of 

them in multichannel formats of 

one sort or another. Here are two 

samples. The Crumb DVD has a 24bit/96kHz, 

5.1-channel DTS track 

where the center channel is fed 

from a microphone inside the body of the piano, 

while the front L/R and surround L/R offer a normal 

acoustic presentation. The result, accompanied 

by a video of the performance, is more revealing 

and involving than any two-channel presentation 

could possibly be. The Scelsi DVD, taken from 

live concert performances, has both Dolby Digital 

and DTS 24/48 tracks but no video. Still, there is a 

nearly visual presentation of this electrifying music. 

The older Jürg Wyttenbach/Cracovie performances 

on CD (Accord) are flashier, but less dramatic and 

mystical. If you have a taste for discovery, check out 

Mode’s website at www.moderecords.com. 

—Kalman Rubinson 


2006: Three of many 

Evolution Series music 

and home theater 

system components 

Evolution 402 

Stereo Power Amplifier 

Evolution 202 

Stereo Preamplifier 

Evolution 505 

SACD/CD Player 

Next Stop on the Road to Perfection: Krell Evolution. 

After 25 years of creating some of the finest audio 

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extraordinary collection of audio components that get 

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Witness Active Cascode Topology, which delivers 

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not due to any bass emphasis, or to 

changes in speaker position or acoustics, 

but to the No.433’s ability to give shape 

to sounds that could otherwise be 

obscured by what was going on in the 

midrange and treble. One result of this 

was that the low end of deep voices that 

descend to the frequencies where room 

modes begin to have their pernicious 

effect were not differently colored from 

the upper end of their range. The very 

lowest bass was equally tight and potent. 

It was in the high frequencies that 

the No.433 most distinguished itself 

from the other amps on hand. The 

clarity of its midrange seemed to carry 

on up through the highest frequencies 

without restriction or loss of resolution. 

With the 802Ds, the result was 

extremely satisfying—the No.433 

opened up the soundstage while taking 

nothing from the defining qualities of 

the bass and mids. I doubt I would 

have made such a determination with 

earlier 800-series speakers from B&W, 

but the smoothness of the 802D’s diamond 

tweeter, particularly as it 

approaches the crossover frequency 

(4kHz), combined with the No.433 in 

a way that was a revelation. 

That revelation occurred when I put 

on Christoph Eschenbach and the 

Philadelphia Orchestra’s new SACD of 

Saint-Saëns’ Symphony 3 (see sidebar, 

“Recordings in the Round”). From the 

very soft beginning, I could hear individual 

instrumentalists and “see” exactly 

where each was seated. As the forces 

gathered, there was no loss of such 

specificity or balance, even in tuttis. 

Add the organ-pedal tones in the second 

movement and, again, there was 

an expansion of the tonal and dynamic 

palettes, but with no compromise of 

the rich detail. I was transported. 

The No.433 might seem a bit bright 

in direct comparisons with other amps, 

but, as I’ve emphasized before, you can’t 

make a completely objective determination 

of a product’s accuracy with only 

subjective tools and no primary references. 

With the Pioneer S-1EX speakers 

as well, the No.433 created an impression 

of transparency and lightness, but it 

was as if the otherwise excellent mids 

and lows played less of a role in defining 

the sound’s character. Perhaps this was 

due to the difference between the 

B&Ws and the Pioneers’ more highly 

damped bass tuning. The Bel Canto 

REF1000 monoblocks, despite their 

power, had a bit less slam than did the 

No.433 with either speaker, but they 

provided a remarkably satisfying spectral 


MY ENTIRE SYSTEM, GOOD AS IT WAS, HAS 

BEEN PUSHED ANOTHER STEP FORWARD BY YET 

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF COMPLEMENTARY 

ADVANCES IN SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE. 

balance with the Pioneers, much as the 

Levinson and the Classé CA3200 did 

with the 802Ds. I continue to waffle 

about whether I preferred the Levinson 

or the Classé with the B&Ws. The 

Levinson made them sound tighter and 

quicker, while the Classé made them 

sound a bit more warm and rich. There is 

a real difference in price, too: $10,000 for 

the Mark Levinson No.433 vs $6000 for 

the Classé CA3200. Take a careful look 

in your wallet but, given my experience 

and my current room acoustics, I’d go for 

the Levinson No.433. 

Back to Bassics—JL Audio’s 

f113 Subwoofer 

The arrival of Christoph Eschenbach 

and the Philadelphia Orchestra’s spectacular 

new SACD of Saint-Saëns’ Symphony 

3 drives me to say a bit more 

about JL Audio’s Fathom f113 subwoofer 

(see “Music in the Round,” 

November 2006). Because I listen to 

music, not movies, in my main system, 

the f113 is not called to duty every day. 

If fact, most of my listening is in twochannel 

stereo, for which there’s no easy 

way to do optimum bass management 

in this all-analog system. But after my 

first listen to this disc, I got myself off 

the couch—I had to hear it with the sub. 

The disc is 5.0-channel, so I tried two 

ways: 1) I hooked up the f113 in parallel 

with the L/R channels and used the 

built-in LP filter to roll it in from 40Hz 

down. Then, 2) I used the Bel Canto PL- 

1A’s bass management to set all of my 

speakers to Small. The latter might seem 

suboptimal (sorry) because the crossover 

to the sub is fixed for all channels at 

80Hz, and a lower crossover frequency is 

more effective with the B&W 802Ds. 

Nonetheless, I greatly preferred that configuration; 

in this room, the f113 is a vastly 

superior reproducer of low bass than 

even the quintet of B&W floorstanders. 

In 5.0 channels, the Saint-Saëns was 

no less than glorious (see above), and 

the organ was powerful, rich, and distinctive 

in its colorations. In fact, it was 

simply the best-sounding recording of 

this piece that I had heard. But, like 

Oliver Twist, I wanted more, please, 

sir. With the f113 rolling in below 

40Hz, there was added authority and 

weight in some, though not all, of the 

organ-pedal passages. It was thrilling, 

but not all that different from the 

unaugmented 5.0 sound. 

With the invocation of bass management, 

with which I passed the low end 

over to the f113 below 80Hz, there 

seemed to be a dramatic expansion of 

the entire soundstage and an increased 

definition of the extreme bass, to go 

along with the enhancements noted 

above. At several points in the second 

movement I could barely hear the 

organ, but I could feel it through my 

feet—and this in a steel-reinforced concrete 

building. Who knows what others 

in the building might have thought 

was going on? 

Why was this so? I think there are 

two reasons. First, the f113 is simply 

capable of more output with less distortion 

below 40Hz. Second, the f113 

is equalized to be more linear in this 

region. I didn’t measure the B&W 

802Ds, but if the unequalized f113 

showed a highly irregular response in 

this room, odds are that the 802Ds, 

positioned as they were for maximal 

imaging and midrange smoothness, 

probably had a low-end response that 

looked like a view of the Alps. Bass 

management simply deleted this and 

passed along those frequencies to the 

equalized and powerful f113. The 

result? My entire system, good as it 

was, has been pushed another step forward 

by yet another example of complementary 

advances in software and 

hardware. Now I need to rethink all of 

my connections to permit better and 

more frequent use of the JL Audio 

Fathom f113… 

Next Time in the Round 

Having distributed my Stereophile card 

to many prospects at the 2007 Consumer 

Electronics Show, I hope lots of 

juicy stuff will soon arrive. The Audio 

Research MP-1 and the Cary Audio 

Cinema 11 pre-pros are next in the 

queue, along with some more discussion 

of equalization. As for recordings, 

the spate of multichannel SACDs continues. 

See you in July. ■■ 


MEGALINE 

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KEN KESSLER: McIntosh: 

“…for the love of 

music…” 

McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., 2006. 

$150.00. Hardcover, 12" by 12" by 

1.25", 315 pp. ISBN 0-9787236-0-0. 

Available from McIntosh dealers 

and McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., 2 

Chambers Street, Binghamton, NY 

13903. Tel: (800) 538-6576. 

When I reviewed 

Ken 

Kessler’s book Quad: The 

Closest Approach, in 

Stereophile’s February 

2004 issue, I offered the 

opinion that the list of companies it might 

make sense to write an entire book about 

would be short: “Had I to make a list, it 

would begin with: Quad, Nakamichi, 

ReVox-Studer, AR, KLH, Levinson (all 

incarnations), Klipsch, Bose…” 

Oops. Talk about missing the obvious—I 

neglected to mention McIntosh Laboratory, 

the longest-established high-end audioelectronics 

company in America. As far as I 

know, McIntosh Laboratory loses out only 

to loudspeaker builder Klipsch as the oldest 

surviving major US specialty audio company—McIntosh 

was founded in 1949, Klipsch 

in 1946. (Frank McIntosh’s earlier enterprises 

offered first consulting and design 

services, and then manufacturing, for commercial 

broadcasters; there seems to be no 

dispute that 1949 is the proper start date for 

his consumer-electronics venture.) 

I think it fair to say that with this volume, 

Ken Kessler has outdone himself. 

Ken has been a great writer for a long 

while, so I don’t think that in the few years 

since his Quad book he has suddenly 

become a better writer. Rather, I think it is 

that in writing about McIntosh rather than 

Quad, there might have been two synergistic 

things at work. First, anyone who 

cares about audio is going to feel, consciously 

or otherwise, that to write about 

Quad is in some way to approach the Holy 

of Holies on the highest holy day. Audiophiles 

and music lovers feel a certain reverence 

toward Quad, and rightly so. But the 

urge to speak in hushed tones (as it were) 

might cramp one’s writing style just a bit. 

The other factor is that what we all 

thought we knew about McIntosh was 

often wrong, and in every case a lot less than 

the complete story—which Ken’s book 

delivers in spades. Most audiophiles over a 

certain age know the outlines of the Quad 

saga. But the McIntosh story contains much 

terra incognita. In Ken’s new book there is 

both the thrill of the chase and the pleasure 

BOOK REVIEWS 

of discovery. McIntosh 

and rock 

music, from 

Woodstock to the 

Grateful Dead 

(and quite a few 

studios)—who 

knew? A McIntosh-brandedSOTA/Grahamderived 

turntable prototype? Tell me! 

The brand McIntosh is most often compared 

to is Harley-Davidson, but that is a 

two-edged sword. Both companies did their 

share of wandering in the wilderness. 

Which leads directly to what I think is the 

most important point I can make in this 

review. Even though this book is published 

by McIntosh itself, it is as candidly revealing 

as any business history I have read from an 

independent publisher. McIntosh: “…for the 

love of music…” is not a happy-slappy PR puff 

piece but a genuine history. Indeed, I found 

the behind-the-scenes business chapters to 

be absolute page-turners. 

In Kessler’s book you learn that, from the 

mid-1960s through the mid-1970s, McIntosh 

offered no new products. What kept 

the company alive during those years was 

the business generated by the ongoing road 

show of the McIntosh Amplifier Clinics, 

which had established from the outset 

McIntosh’s reputation for peerless customer 

service and absolute truthfulness in performance 

specifications. 

Back in the day, if the owner of a Mac 

amp brought it in to a Clinic and one of its 

tubes tested as not in spec, McIntosh would 

replace the tube for free, no questions asked. 

Even more effectively, owners of competing 

amplifiers could get their amps tested, and 

learn how well or poorly they met their 

own manufacturers’ specifications. Through 

the 1960s, most other amps fared quite 

poorly, but Clinic guru Dave O’Brien offers 

a gracious word for Marantz. (Sad to relate, 

O’Brien died on January 9, 2007, the day the 

book was released.) 

Other unexpected instances of candor 

include Audio Classics’ Steve Rowell’s statement 

that there was a middle period when 

McIntosh products’ sound quality was not 

equal to their build quality, looks, or reliability. 

There’s the revelation that getting back 

into tube gear required overcoming a degree 

of internal resistance (or perhaps it was even 

impedance). Kessler’s interview with Ron 

Fone, whose four-year transitional stint as 

nominal president in my view defines the 

phrase unsung hero, illuminates the minuses as 

well as the pluses of Clarion Co., Ltd.’s ownership 

of McIntosh. And let’s not forget the 

heartwarming story of the McIntosh dealer 

who sold, claiming it was a demo model, a 

used, broken, and shoddily repaired Mac 

amplifier—to Len Feldman of Audio magazine. 

Ouch. 

One vignette that exemplifies the pickle 

high-end audio is in today is of a McIntosh 

retailer who regularly hosted an after-hours 

champagne-and-hors-d’oeuvres reception 

at the conclusion of the annual Amplifier 

Clinic. After a few years, the dealer stopped 

doing that, even before McIntosh discontinued 

the Clinics. Why? Because the same 

people showed up year after year, ate and 

drank, socialized, reminisced…and bought 

nothing. McIntosh discontinued the Clinics 

because their new solid-state amplifiers’ 

specifications were beyond the resolution of 

the Clinics’ test equipment, and, at the time, 

it was becoming more and more difficult to 

find replacement tubes (and, perhaps, 

because people would bring in their amps, 

get a clean bill of health and maybe a free 

tube or two, and…buy nothing). 

From celebrity owners such as Howard 

Hughes, in his Las Vegas redoubt, to the project 

of fitting McIntosh car-audio equipment 

into Ford’s GT (which can’t be called the 

GT-40 because Ford neglected to trademark 

the name of its Le Mans–winning race car, 

while a maker of replicars did), McIntosh: 

“…for the love of music…” gives an encyclopedic 

view of a legendary audio brand. 

More important, it goes some way toward 

countering the oft-repeated putdown that 

McIntosh was a brand for doctors and 

lawyers, but that neither McIntosh’s engineering 

nor its sound was competitive. 

Audio scribes Tom Gillett, Paul Seydor, and 

Paul Bolin weigh in on that issue, and tube 

guru Tim de Paravicini is quoted as saying 

that McIntosh’s Unity Coupled Circuit is 

the only one he wishes he had designed. 

As we’ve come to expect from Ken Kessler 

projects, the production values are lavish. The 

cover and the book’s entire color scheme 

reflect McIntosh’s black-and-gold glass faceplates 

and blue meters. The photographs, 

photo editing, and layout are fittingly worldclass. 

There is even a bound-in gold ribbon 

for a bookmark. In addition to a foreword and 

introduction, there are 19 chapters of content, 

four appendices (including a timeline), an 

index, a bibliography, and lists of McIntosh 

products by model number and name. 

Well done. Highly recommended— 

even if your amplifier doesn’t sport big 

blue meters. —John Marks 


THE GLEAMING TENOR 

ROLANDO VILLAZÓN 

46 www.Stereophile.com, May 2007 

COURTESY OF VIRGIN CLASSICS RECORDS 

BY ROBERT LEVINE 

In 1991, when The Three Tenors, as a concept, hit the 

ground running and became, much to everyone’s surprise, 

a huge hit on record, José Carreras was about 10 

years past his prime; Luciano Pavarotti, who’d been 

known as the King of the High Cs, had already been 

demoted to King of the High Bs and would drop precipitously 

in the next few years; and the superhuman 

Plácido Domingo is still going strong, if less frequently. 

What their success did, however, was draw attention 

to the high male voice in opera—not since Enrico 

Caruso and Beniamino Gigli had the focus been so 

thoroughly on the tenor rather than the soprano. The 

public’s imagination was fired up, and divo began 

being uttered alongside the feminine diva. 

The race was soon on for The Fourth Tenor, who, 

oddly, was expected to be a combination of the first 

three: with Domingo’s versatility and intellect, 

Pavarotti’s golden tone and high notes, and Carreras’s 

magnetism. Then, we were told, he was found: The 

handsome, French-Sicilian tenor Roberto Alagna was 

hyped so wildly by his record company that, by the 

time he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in April 

1996, he was not only set up to disappoint, he actually 

did, singing off-key and with strain. It was death by premarketing, 

and everyone should have been ashamed. 

Since then Alagna has gone on to a stellar international 

career (his recent departure from the stage of La Scala 

after being booed was a glitch), and he is a great tenor, 

but he’s not “the one.” Nowadays good tenors are pretty 

easy to find (Marcello Giordani, Ramón Vargas, 

Johan Botha, Ben Heppner), and one, the young 

Peruvian bel cantist Juan Diego Flórez, is magnificent 

in the high, florid operas of Rossini, Bellini, and 

Donizetti. But for the combination of charisma, beauty 

of tone, and originality of thought, the new guy to beat 

is the Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón. 

Still in his early 30s, the sprightly, good-looking 

Villazón, who is comfortable onstage, has been called 

“a shining new star” and “a sensitive, intelligent musician” 

by London’s Daily Telegraph; the Associated 

Press made note of his “ardent, virile presence”; “the 

real thing, a tenor with star potential and striking 

individuality,” raved the Sunday Times; and the 

Financial Times said Villazón was “blessed with a fresh, 

gleaming tenor, an admirable sense of rapture, a ringing 

top and pervasive sensibility.” I’ve yet to read or 

hear a negative critique of this tenor. To compare, 

Domingo was criticized for shortness at the top of his 

range, Pavarotti for being uninvolved and half dead 

on stage, and Carreras for straining. And in my own 

experience of Villazón, whether on CD, DVD, or in 

the theater, he has never come close to disappointing. 

A trio of new releases speaks for his versatility; the 

performances speak for themselves. Clearly unable 

to sing without enjoying it, Villazón, on Gitano,

makes a fine case for Zarzuela, the Spanish theatrical form 

popular from the late 19th century until the 1930s. (The 

inclusion on this CD of a song composed in 1998 by the 

singer-songwriter José Maria Cano, about the honor of a 

Gypsy, is a slovenly imitation of the form.) Zarzuela is halfway 

between what we know as musicals and opera, and requires 

as much sheer voice as Puccini, Mascagni, and that crowd. 

Teresa Berganza, Alfredo Kraus, Domingo, Montserrat 

Caballé, and others have popularized it somewhat in the past 

30 years, but this terrific new CD could push it close to the 

mainstream. These selections are mostly filled with grand 

emotions—love, loss, joy—and the remarkable Villazón inflects 

his essentially dark-hued voice so intelligently and sensitively 

that he embodies each experience. 

Unlike any of the singers mentioned above, Villazón ventures 

back 300 years for the repertoire on another new disc, 

Combattimento, which should raise some eyebrows. 

Monteverdi falls just outside the realm of “early music” but is 

normally treated as such—sung and played with little or no 

vibrato, and approached with a certain delicacy. Conductor 

Emmanuelle Haïm has proven, in her recordings of Orfeo and 

other works, that her approach to 17th-century music is dramatic, 

full-blooded, and decidedly full of vibrato, while at the 

same time remaining faithful to the music itself. 

In addition to arias and duets, 

Combattimento features one of 

Monteverdi’s most dramatic works: 

Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, a 

lengthy narrative of war, death, love, 

and forgiveness that fairly vibrates with 

tension. The Christian knight Tancredi 

has fallen in love with Clorinda, a 

Saracen. In armor, they meet on the 

battlefield, where Tancredi kills 

Clorinda; he removes her helmet in 

time to be horrified by the fact that it is 

his true love, and she lives long enough 

to ask to be baptized. 

Villazón, as the narrator, has the bulk 

of the work—Tancredi and Clorinda 

sing about two minutes’ worth of 

music—and he turns the sequence of 

events into a suspenseful story. 

Monteverdi pulls out all the vocal 

stops—there are so-called goat trills (a 

trill on a repeated note, rather than one 

including the note above or below), 

which Villazón approaches in an unidiomatic 

but perfectly acceptable manner, 

and there are fast runs, periods of 

almost panic-stricken recitation, and 

lovely, lyrical moments, all of which he 

handles perfectly. Similarly, neither 

soprano Patrizia Ciofi (Clorinda) nor 

tenor Topi Lehtipuu (Tancredi) has the 

type of voice one normally associates 

with Monteverdi, but their commitment, 

musicality, and dramatic thrust 

make this reading as urgent and touching 

as it should be. Haïm gets through 

the work in 18 minutes, some three 

minutes less than other conductors, and 

the effect is shattering—a sung video 

game of war’s brutality. 

Last in this Rolando Villazón fiesta is a 

ROLANDO VILLAZÓN 

Gitano 

Arias by Cano, Guerrero, Luna, Moreno-Torroba, 

Relato, Serrano, Soriano, Sorozabal, Soutullo, 

Vives 

Rolando Villazón, tenor; Orquestra de la 

Communidad de Madrid, Plácido Domingo 

Virgin Classics 65474 2 (CD). 2007. Daniel Zalay, 

prod.; Jean-Pierre Signoret, eng. DDD. TT: 57:06 

Performance ★★★ Sonics ★★★★ 

MONTEVERDI 

Combattimento 

Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda; 

madrigals, arias, duets 

Rolando Villazón, Topi Lehtipuu, tenors; 

Patrizia Ciofi, soprano; Le Concert d’Astrée, 

Emmanuelle Haïm 

Virgin Classics 63350 2 (CD). 2007. Daniel Zalay, 

prod.; Michel Pierre, eng. DDD. TT: 67:28 

Performance ★★★★★ Sonics ★★★★★ 

DONIZETTI 

L’Elisir d’Amore 

Rolando Villazón, Nemorino; Anna Netrebko, 

Adina; Leo Nucci, Belcore; Ildebrando 

D’Arcangelo, Dulcamara; Inna Los, Giannetta; 

Chor und Orchester der Wiener Staatsoper; 

Alfred Eschwé 

Virgin Classics 63352 9 (DVD-Video). 2006. 

Thomas König, ed.; Peter Strasser, Petra 

Zeininger, engs. DTS 5.0 Surround, Dolby 5.0 

Surround, LPCM Stereo. TT: 2:10:00 

Performance ★★★★★ Sonics ★★★★★ 

DVD of a performance of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, taped at the 

Vienna State Opera in 2005. The role of Nemorino was in the 

repertoire of each of The Three Tenors in the 1970s and ’80s, and 

while Domingo brought a certain smoothness to it early in his 

career, his voice soon grew too heavy; Pavarotti was simple, affectionate, 

and bright-toned, and Carreras had vulnerability and 

warmth. Villazón has it all. The voice gleams at the top, the baritonal 

bottom adds tenderness in introspective moments, he handles 

the coloratura handsomely, and is even a master at messa di 

voce—that glorious effect in which a note is attacked softly, swells 

to almost forte, and is then drawn back to pianissimo—and he uses 

it at the close of his big aria, “Una furtiva lagrima.” After two minutes 

of applause from the normally reticent Viennese audience, 

he repeats the aria, with even greater nuance. The character is a 

bumpkin, and Villazón makes everything he says seem spontaneous. 

With his mop-top hair and big eyes, he seems to be channeling 

Harpo, Chico, and Chaplin at once. He’s a born ham—he 

juggles three pieces of fruit while singing one aria—and offers one 

of the most delightful portrayals of the role ever. 

We’ve seen and heard Villazón before in tragic 19th-century 

opera—his Traviata was reviewed in these pages a few 

months ago, and he was ardent and sexy—but like all fine 

actors, he’s a chameleon onstage. (Pavarotti always played 

Pavarotti.) The gorgeous Russian superstar Anna Netrebko 

is Villazón’s beloved Adina, and everything 

she does seems likewise relaxed; 

she executes endless streams of coloratura 

in beautiful tone with ease, and 

she’s truly alert and appealing. The two 

share a one-minute-long kiss that has 

the audience erupting in applause. Bass 

Ildebrando d’Arcangelo makes a nicely 

snide, mellifluous, younger-than-usual 

quack, Dr. Dulcamara, and veteran 

baritone Leo Nucci still has it as the 

boastful soldier, Belcore. Conductor 

Alfred Eschwé clearly realizes he had 

struck gold with this cast (apparently 

Villazón and Netrebko were thrown 

into the show on a few weeks’ notice 

when they became available), and leads 

a tight, energetic reading of the score. 

The traditional sets and costumes 

(from 1980, by Jürgen Rose) are 

charming, and whose direction for 

both stage and TV is fine. The subtitles 

are in English, Spanish, French, Italian, 

or German. 

And so the opera world has a true 

tenor star, one whose charm, great voice, 

and natural gifts could get the attention 

of non-opera lovers as well. (Netrebko is 

his female equivalent nowadays and 

they’re frequently cast together.) At the 

moment—he’s 33—it seems there’s nothing 

Rolando Villazón can’t do right, well, 

and with originality. His strange combination 

of a dark tone that turns bright 

and is thoroughly secure at the top is a 

rarity (Caruso had it), and it alone should 

be enough, assuming it stays intact. Nor 

is the voice small: We may just get, in ten 

or so years, a great Otello from him. 

Until then, everything else he’s doing 

turns to gold. —Robert Levine ■■ 


Wes Phillips 

DESCRIPTION Single-box, fixedoutput 

CD player with outboard 

12V DC power supply and remote 

control. Formats played: CD, CD-R, 

CD-RW. D/A conversion: 24 bits. 

Oversampling: 8x (352.8kHz). Analog 

outputs: 1 pair RCA, 1 pair balanced 

XLR. Digital outputs: coaxial S/PDIF, 

AES/EBU, TosLink S/PDIF. Analog 

output levels: 3.5V RMS or 1V RMS 

(user selectable, balanced and 

RCA). Frequency response: 20Hz 

(0dB)–20kHz (–1dB). Signal/noise: 

>108dB. THD:


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one could question whether they will 

truly penetrate the market one day.” 

In addition to CD enjoying the lion’s 

share of the market, Nagra feels the 

format has never stopped progressing 

throughout its 24-year lifespan. 

“Recordings, often themselves of 

excellent quality, cover all styles of 

music, and the number of available 

titles is always increasing, and represents 

an important factor in itself for 

format longevity.” 

The actual transport module in the 

CDP’s mono-block tray is a Philips CD- 

Pro2M, which is used stock, other than 

Nagra’s addition of their own suspension 

system and locking disc weight. The 

electronics were all developed in-house 

MEASUREMENTS 

NAGRA CDP 

The Nagra CDP’s maximum output level at 1kHz 

was 3.175V from its unbalanced jacks, 4dB higher 

than the CD standard’s 2V. The balanced output 

was 0.67dB higher, at 3.42V. (The level can also be 

set to 1V.) Both outputs were absolute-polarity-correct; ie, 

non-inverting (the XLRs are wired with pin 2 hot, the AES 

standard). The output impedance was a low 50 ohms 

from both sets of outputs at treble and midrange frequencies, 

but rose at 20Hz to 344 ohms (balanced) and 146 

ohms (unbalanced). With preamps having an input 

impedance of 10k ohms or higher, this increase will not 

have any audible consequences. 

The CDP’s error correction was the best I have encountered. 

Monitoring the player’s digital output with the RME 

DigiCheck program running on a PC, there were no audible 

glitches or flagged errors in the output datastream 

until track 34 of the Pierre Verany Test CD, which has 

laser-cut gaps in its bit spiral exactly 2mm in length. Even 

then, this was only at the start of the track, the rest of 

which played without errors. It took the 4mm data gaps in 

track 38 for the Nagra to mute its output, which is extraordinary. 

Unusually, the flag in the player’s output data- 

Fig.1 Nagra CDP, frequency response at –12dBFS into 100k ohms without 

(top) and with (bottom) de-emphasis (right channel dashed, 

0.5dB/vertical div.). 

by Nagra, starting with PLL resynchronization 

of the signal and low-jitter, 

high-precision, voltage-controlled crystal 

oscillators (VCXOs). The resynced 

signal is fed to an 8x-oversampling Burr- 

Brown sigma-delta D/A converter and 

thence to Burr-Brown output devices. 

The ACPS II power supply contains 

not only the AC transformer, but the 

regulator and smoothing circuits as 

well. It outputs 12V DC to the CDP 

via a ferrite-treated cable. The CDP 

itself has nine discrete power supplies: 

the digital circuits use decoupling converters, 

synchronized to the reference 

clock of the transport module, while 

the analog boards use additional lownoise 

regulators. 

The program code is stored on flash 

Eprom and can be updated at the Nagra 

factory. The bits’n’bobs are all prime 

quality: the printed-circuit boards are 

multilayer, with separate power and 

ground planes. Capacitors are from 

Wima; the rotary control is from Elma. 

Precision: 6" to the right and Lincoln 

would have seen the end of the play 

Setting up the CDP was relatively simple. 

The mono-block tray glides along 

its rails with so little friction that the 

CDP is shipped with four transport 

bolts locking it in place. These, of 

course, must be removed before you 

use the player. (After that, Nagra advises 

that you just tilt the player’s rear panel 

stream was not set when a data error occurred; instead, 

bit 17 became active when an error occurred. Even more 

unusual, bit 18 in the output word was permanently set to 

“1.” This is irrelevant to the listening experience, but 

nonetheless …unusual. 

The CDP’s frequency response dropped almost to –1dB 

at 20kHz (fig.1, top pair of traces) but was otherwise flat. 

However, with pre-emphasized data (fig.1, bottom traces), 

a negative 2dB error appeared in the mid-treble. With 

those rare pre-emphasized CDs, the CDP will sound slightly 

distant or polite. Channel separation (not shown) was 

superb from both sets of outputs, at better than 110dB 

below 500Hz. It did decrease to a still very good 80dB at 

20kHz, due to the usual capacitive coupling. 

Playing back dithered data representing a 1kHz tone at 

–90dBFS, the Nagra’s unbalanced output was free from 

either harmonic or power-supply–related spuriae. In fact, 

the 1 ⁄3-octave–wide traces in fig.2 show just the spectral content 

of the recorded dither noise, the player’s own noise 

being lower than what the CD medium is capable of 

achieving. Extending the analysis to 200kHz with the CDP 

playing back a “digital black” track (not shown) indicated 

Fig.2 Nagra CDP, 1 ⁄3-octave spectrum with noise and spuriae of dithered 

1kHz tone at –90dBFS (right channel dashed). 


down while carrying it around the 

house.) As with all CD players that 

come with disc clamps, you need to 

develop good habits for storing and 

remembering to use that little sucker 

(probably not much of an issue for folks 

who don’t change gear as much as I do). 

One feature that Nagra’s literature 

doesn’t mention but that I found quite 

thoughtful: the three red interior LEDs 

that illuminate the tray when it opens, 

measurements, continued 

NAGRA CDP 

that the player has very little ultrasonic noise present in its 

output. Though a slight rise in the noise floor was visible 

above the audioband, it still lay at only –96dBFS at 200kHz. 

Linearity error was less than ±2dB down to –110dBFS 

(fig.3). In fact, this graph really shows only the contribution 

of the recorded dither noise. The Nagra’s very low 

level of self-noise meant that, with undithered data, its 

reproduction of a 1kHz tone at exactly –90.31dBFS was 

essentially perfect (fig.4), the three DC voltage levels 

being very clearly delineated. Though a very slight DC offset 

can be seen in this graph, it is less than 30μV, which is 

negligible. 

When it came to harmonic distortion, the Nagra CDP 

did well, although it was not quite as linear as the best I 

Fig.3 Nagra CDP, left-channel departure from linearity, 16-bit data 

(2dB/vertical div.). 

Fig.4 Nagra CDP, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at –90.31dBFS, 

16-bit data. 

making disc placement easier. I found 

the remote control a bit of a letdown, 

however; the numeric pad didn’t seem 

to give me direct access to tracks—I had 

to keep hitting Next to navigate discs. 

This isn’t something that I really need 

when listening to (as opposed to comparing) 

CD players, but coupled with 

the LED display’s small letters, it made 

cross-room navigation hard for this 

vision-impaired old fogey. 

Nagra’s US distributor feels the unbalanced 

outputs are the better-sounding, 

because there is less circuitry in the signal 

path. However, I used the CDP’s balanced 

output connections, because that’s 

how I normally connect my Ayre C-5xe 

universal player to the Ayre K-1xe preamp 

and MX-R power amps currently 

residing in my reference system. 1 

1 I will be comparing the Nagra CDP’s balanced and 

unbalanced outputs in a “Follow-Up” report. 

have measured. Fig.5, for example, is an FFT-derived spectral 

analysis of the unbalanced outputs while the CDP 

played back a 1kHz tone at 0dBFS. The THD was a low 

0.003%, with the highest-level harmonic the third, at 

–91.5dB (0.004%). Note, however, that the fifth and seventh 

harmonics make appearances (circled in blue). 

Though both lie at –100dB (0.001%) or below, I would 

rather they weren’t there at all. At –90dBFS (not shown), 

all the distortion harmonics were buried in the player’s 

noise floor, as suggested by fig.2. 

Distortion was as good at low frequencies into high 

impedances (not shown), but when I drove a full-scale 

50Hz tone at 0dBFS from the CDP’s unbalanced output 

into the punishing 600 ohm load (fig.6), the third har- 

Fig.5 Nagra CDP, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave at 0dBFS into 8k ohms, 

unbalanced (linear frequency scale). 

Fig.6 Nagra CDP, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave at 0dBFS into 600 ohms, 

unbalanced (linear frequency scale). 


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I’d take precision over power any day 

My first sonic impression of the CDP 

was of a tightly focused, phenomenally 

detailed musical image. I listened to 

“Cloudburst,” from Lambert, Hendricks, 

& Ross’s The Hottest New Group 

in Jazz (CD, Columbia/Legacy C2K 

64933)—which, despite bearing the 

name of the group’s first Columbia 

LP, is a two-CD compilation of all 

three of their recordings for that label. 

Immediately, I was reassured that the 

CDP wasn’t going to be one of those 


NAGRA CDP 

monic rose to –70dB (0.03%), with now the second harmonic 

predominant, at –60dB (0.1%). As expected, the 

balanced output into the same low load had very much 

lower even-order harmonics, but the third was a little 

higher than the unbalanced output, at –63.5dB (0.07%, 

fig.7). Tested for intermodulation distortion, the Nagra 

produced a very low level of second-order difference 

product from an equal mix of 19kHz and 20kHz tones 

peaking at 0dBFS, but some higher-order components 

were apparent (fig.8). 

Finally, when tested with the Miller Audio Research Jitter 

Analyzer for its rejection of word-clock jitter, the Nagra CDP 

Fig.7 Nagra CDP, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave at 0dBFS into 600 ohms, 

balanced (linear frequency scale). 

Fig.8 Nagra CDP, HF intermodulation spectrum, 19+20kHz at 0dBFS peak 

into 8k ohms, unbalanced (linear frequency scale). 

finicky players that demand I cherrypick 

my recordings. Even though the 

material was all recorded between 

1960 and 1962, the Nagra made it 

sound as fresh and bright as it must 

have 47 years ago. 

That’s the disc mastering, you say? 

That’s true to a great degree, but I’ve 

auditioned expensive (and “high-resolution”) 

CD players that emphasized older 

discs’ analog origins all too vividly. Yes, 

when listening at very high levels, I was 

quite aware of some tape hiss, but at vol- 

umes that were normal chez Wez, that 

hiss was well down in the mix. 

What was front and center was loads 

of detail that I did want to hear. The 

three singers were each miked separately, 

and the CDP not only revealed 

that readily, but made it obvious that 

they were each using a different model 

of microphone. Drummer Ike Isaacs’ 

tom-toms had transient snap and a 

mellow bloom, and his ride cymbal 

had an immense range of color—ranging 

from the brilliant pings from the 

was superb, its output suffering from just 215 picoseconds 

peak–peak of jitter-related sidebands (fig.9). Other than a 

pair of sidebands at ±230Hz (red “2” markers), all the 

data-related components were close to the residual level 

in the test signal. The main sidebands present lay at 

±1375Hz (purple “6”) and ±3030Hz (purple “13”), but 

these are of unknown origin. They weren’t present when I 

tested the Nagra with a different measurement system I 

am evaluating, which indicated just 151ps p–p of jitter. 

However, both systems indicated some slight spectral 

spreading of the central peak in the graph, due to the presence 

of some random low-frequency jitter. Paul Miller has 

conjectured that this produces a somewhat larger depiction 

of objects within the soundstage than is strictly accurate, 

coupled with a rather laid-back presentation. 

The Nagra CDP’s digital-domain measurements, especially 

regarding its ability to cope with data errors and its 

rejection of jitter, are among the best I have encountered. 

Considered purely as a CD transport, it doesn’t get any 

better than this. In the analog domain, the CDP works 

best with higher impedances, when it is almost beyond 

reproach, though the de-emphasis did raise my eyebrows 

a tad. I do wonder, however, if its signatures of harmonic 

and intermodulation distortion correlate with the somewhat 

forward soundstage presentation WP noted in his 

auditioning. —John Atkinson 

Fig.9 Nagra CDP, high-resolution jitter spectrum of analog output signal 

(11.025kHz at –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled at 

229Hz), 16-bit CD data. Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; 

frequency range, ±3.5kHz. 


ell to the lusher sizzle of strokes nearer 

the rim. But while all of that was 

impressive, the gestalt was that these 

guys were swingin’. Sorry, that’s a different 

song, but man, was it true. 

Hmmm, thunk I, why not try some other 

music I might not get away with through 

other big-ticket players? 

Out came Odetta Sings the Blues (CD, 

Riverside 3007), recorded in 1968 in a 

far more intimate way than the Lambert, 

Hendricks, & Ross tracks: Odetta’s 

huge voice is placed in a small 

room with piano, acoustic bass, and 

drums. I cued up “Nobody Knows You 

When You’re Down and Out.” 

Wowsers! I’d always loved the power 

and heft of that voice, but how had I 

never noticed how three-dimensional 

the whole thing sounded? The lady 

herself was front and center, piano to 

the right, drums to the left, the bass 

somewhat behind her. Convincing and 

timeless—not to mention a persuasive 

argument for Nagra’s format-longevity 

argument. 

Paavo Järvi’s recording of Stravinsky’s 

The Rite of Spring (CD, Telarc CD- 

80615), with the Cincinnati Symphony 

Orchestra, was fascinating through the 

Nagra. Although the DSD-recorded 

CD was incisive and rich, it made me 

realize that the CDP didn’t turn everything 

into gold. That’s a good thing— 

and it’s why, whenever I audition a 

component, I always play a few discs 

that have never before worked for me. 

But if the Stravinsky disc was so “incisive 

and rich,” what’s my bellyache? I 

can’t fault the CSO’s playing, which 

really is exciting and dynamic—the Jeu du 

rapt is about as jarring and brutal as any 

I’ve heard. But, for me, those first threeand-a-half 

minutes—the introduction, 

with its plaintive bassoon and oboe 

melodies and slow orchestral unfolding—just 

lacks the awe and mystery I 

demand from the work. And somehow, 

as vividly imagined as the next 42 minutes 

are, they don’t work for me without 

those three minutes of wonder at 

the beginning. The CDP allowed me to 

revel in what George Perle has 

described as the work’s “intersecting of 

inherently non-symmetrical diatonic 

elements with inherently non-diatonic 

symmetrical elements,” but it didn’t fill 

in the missing magic. And, of course, 

that’s not its job. 

However, when a performance and 

its recording did click, the CDP could 

be magical. Violinist Mark Feldman’s 

What Exit (CD, ECM 1928) is an ear- 

NAGRA CDP 

opener. An outing for acoustic quartet, 

this is one of those rare jazz discs that 

leans as heavily on silence as it does on 

intense bursts of sound. In a word, it’s 

dynamic. The 22-minute “Arcade” 

begins in complete silence, broken 

gently by drummer Tom Rainey’s delicate, 

intensely rhythmic cymbal work. 

Double-bassist Anders Jormin comes 

in with an insistent pulse, and the two 

just develop the groove for a long 

time—some songs are shorter than this 

introduction. When Feldman finally 

enters, it’s with a repetitive, two-note 

bowed motif that begins so quietly it’s 

as much sensed as heard. Things get 

louder quickly; and although this band 

is never afraid of not playing, “Arcade” 

develops in what is as much a series of 

solos and duets as of ensemble playing. 

It’s simultaneously free-form and 

structured—and it’s sonically intoxicating. 

Jormin’s bass, John Taylor’s piano, 

and Rainey’s drums are big and loud, 

where required. The bottom end is 

intense, but Feldman’s overtone attacks 

are extended and crystalline. This isn’t 

just one of those rare recordings in 

which the performances are matched by 

the sound; it’s one of those recordings 

where anything less than lifelike sound 

would cripple the performance. The 

CDP had me lapping it up with a spoon. 

In love, as in gluttony, pleasure is 

a matter of the utmost precision 

What was interesting was, as much as I 

liked the CDP, I was fairly certain that, 

in comparison listening, it would be 

more or less sonically equivalent to my 

Ayre C-5xe. I really like the Ayre, after 

all, and in most other comparisons it’s 

what I’ve ended up preferring—which 

is why it remains my reference player. 

Of course, the reason we actually compare 

components is because it’s so hard 

to make these judgments in a vacuum. 

Why compare the $13,445 Nagra to a 

$5950 universal player when I had on 

hand several other hi-rez players closer to 

the CDP’s price? Because the Ayre is my 

reference, for one thing. And because 

Stereophile has not yet reviewed the Krell 

THE NAGRA PROJECTED A SOUNDSTAGE THAT 

WAS MORE FORWARD THAN THE AYRE’S. 

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT 

DIGITAL SOURCES Ayre C-5xe 

universal player, Krell Evolution 505 

SACD/CD player. 

PREAMPLIFIERS Ayre K-1xe, Krell 

Evolution 202. 

POWER AMPLIFIERS Ayre MX-R, 

Krell Evolution 600. 

LOUDSPEAKERS Dynaudio Confidence 

C4, Wilson Audio Specialties 

WATT/Puppy 8. 

CABLES Interconnect: Shunyata 

Research Aries & Antares. Speaker: 

Shunyata Research Lyra. 

ACCESSORIES Ayre L-5xe line filter; 

Furutech eTP-609 distribution box, 

FP-20A(R) duplex outlets, RDP panels; 

OSAR Selway/Magruder equipment 

racks; Ayre Myrtle Wood Blocks. 

—Wes Phillips 

Evolution 505 SACD/CD player 

(Mikey gets to do that one) or the Chord 

Blu/DAC 64 combo (coming soon), and 

our policy is to compare products under 

review only with products for which our 

opinions are already on the record. 

Which is a long way of saying that I 

was in for a surprise when I did begin 

level-matched comparisons of the 

CDP with the C-5xe. First—and this is 

one of those differences that I couldn’t 

begin to claim was significant—the 

Nagra projected a soundstage that was 

more forward than the Ayre’s. Not by a 

lot—the CDP placed performers more 

or less in the plane of the loudspeakers’ 

baffles, while the Ayre put ’em approximately 

at the back of the speakers. 

Did I prefer one to the other? Not 

consistently. With “Cloudburst,” that 

more forward placement put the performers 

closer to me, which made the 

performance a tad more involving. The 

whole image was bigger and a touch 

more dynamic. Jon Hendricks’ voice 

had deeper nap to its velvet during his 

scat solo, and Isaacs’ cymbals had more 

shimmer and a longer decay. 

So the Nagra was remarkably better 

than the Ayre? No, but it did expand 

on that musical player’s strengths. 

Odetta, too, sounded closer to me 

through the Nagra, and her three backing 

musicians had more space between 

them; the Ayre kept everyone clumped 

together. But what surprised me was 

that Odetta’s diction was slightly more 


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comprehensible through the Nagra— 

not “better,” because in this song she 

channels Bessie Smith’s elisions and 

slurs. Through the Ayre, the line 

sounded like “And your friends / You 

haven’t ay…” The Nagra couldn’t do 

much with that swallowed consonant, 

but it sounded more like, “And your 

friends / You haven’t any…” 

You just know I’m going to say that 

the CDP was all over the C-5xe on the 

Stravinsky, right? Once again, that’s 

why we actually listen. The work’s 

introduction, while not up to my 

favorite performance (Pierre Boulez 

and the Cleveland Orchestra), sounded 

far more moody and mysterious 

through the Ayre. Not only did the bassoon 

emanate from deeper in the 

soundstage, it seemed to come out of a 

deeper silence. Oddly, the CDP made 

the soundstage sound flatter—a bit of a 

cutout, really—but added a bit of texture 

to it as well. The Nagra did a better job 

of emphasizing dynamic contrasts, 

however, which added to the visceral 

quality of the Jeu du rapt. 

That unfettered dynamism made me 

prefer the CDP with Mark Feldman’s 

“Arcade,” as well. The slow, three- 

NAGRA CDP 

minute climb from silence to forte at 

the beginning of the track was a thing 

of wonder—it just built and built and 

built, until the four musicians simply 

had to explode into sheets of sound. It 

wasn’t just music; it was drama. 

Language is a tool adequate to 

provide any degree of precision 

relevant to a particular situation 

When it comes to construction and 

performance, the Nagra CDP is one of 

the best CD players I’ve ever heard or 

caressed. If you’re even the slightest bit 

prone to pure gizmoid lust, you’ll be a 

goner the minute you get your hands 

on one. 

Here in the real world, many of us 

must also consider the question of value. 

Although I feel that Nagra has met its 

design brief in building a player capable 

of extracting every detail lurking in a 

CD’s bits, I’d have a hard time justifying 

its $13,445 price simply in order to 

obtain the extra performance over my 

$5950 Ayre C-5xe—but then, I had to 

pinch pennies so hard to buy the Ayre 

that Abe Lincoln actually scowled at me. 

Besides, that’s putting my wallet in 

your pocket. If owning something that 

ranks among the best of its type is 

important to you and price isn’t that 

big a consideration, you might well 

consider the Nagra CDP. 

WHEN IT COMES TO CONSTRUCTION AND PERFORMANCE, 

THE NAGRA CDP IS ONE OF THE BEST CD PLAYERS 

I’VE EVER HEARD OR CARESSED. 

But if cost is an object to you, as it is to 

me, and you’re easily swayed by components 

engineered to fulfill their function 

with maximum physical and sonic quality, 

just shut your eyes, stuff your fingers 

in your ears, and walk on by quickly, 

muttering, “Get thee behind me.” Lust 

can be the very devil to overcome. ■■ 


Art Dudley 

DESCRIPTION Two-speed, belt-driven 

turntable with synchronous AC 

motor, MDF platter, pivoted tonearm 

with aluminum-alloy armtube, moving-magnet 

phono cartridge with 

replaceable stylus. Wow and flutter: 

unspecified. Rumble: unspecified. 

Tonearm spindle to pivot distance: 

222.8mm. Tonearm effective length: 

240mm. Downforce: noncalibrated 

counterweight. Antiskating: calibrated 

sliding magnet. 

DIMENSIONS 17.5" (450mm) W by 

ca 4.5" (115mm) H (with dustcover) 

by 15" (385mm) D. Weight: not 

specified. 

FINISH Gray semigloss. 

SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT 

REVIEWED 00235. 

PRICE $350. Approximate number of 

dealers: 125. 

MANUFACTURER Rega Research 

Ltd., 119 Park Street, Westcliff-on- 

Sea, Essex, England SS0 7PD, UK. 

Web: www.rega.co.uk. US distributor: 

The Sound Organisation, 159 Leslie 

Street, Dallas, TX 75207. Tel: (972) 

234-0182. Fax: (972) 234-0249. 

Web: www.soundorg.com. 

EQUIPMENT REPORT 

Rega 

P1 

RECORD PLAYER 

Rega P1 record player 

For a word that first appeared in print only 35 years ago, prequel has a 

lot of impact—if only in a commercial sense. The television series 

Smallville has become a staple of American broadcasting. Film producers 

gambled millions on the chance that audiences would want to 

know what happened when Batman began. And while moviegoers 

have turned their backs on the apparently awful Hannibal Rising, the 

book of the same name is doing brisk business indeed. 

Our antediluvian interest isn’t limited to superheroes and scary creeps: After 

enjoying the Rega Planar 2 record player for 32 years, and the Rega Planar 3 for 

almost as long, someone in the audio world finally got around to asking: What 

about the Planar 1? 

Thus the stage was set for Rega to fill in the missing first chapter, and their new 

P1 record player has now reached our shores. Intended as a bargain among bargains, 

the Rega P1 is an old formula brought to life with new parts—including a 

brand-new tonearm, the Rega RB100. 

Description 

Like most Rega record players—and especially like the very first Planar 3—the 

P1 has a purposeful, unfussy appearance: a simple-looking, lightweight wooden 

plinth covered in dark, semigloss laminate. The underlying design is less simple, 

however—something that Rega’s many imitators have missed over the years— 

and is the direct result of designer Roy Gandy’s abiding belief that a massive 


“Is Paul McGowan insane?” 

Dear A/V Enthusiast, 

This story is true. Nothing’s been 

changed to protect the innocent. 

You should know that Paul Mc- 

Gowan, PS Audio’s CEO, may be 

certifiably crazy. 

Here’s the story. But first, let me 

introduce myself… 

I’m Bob Stadtherr, PS Audio’s VP 

of Engineering. Ever heard of the 

PS Power Plant? It was the world’s 

first high-end AC power regenerator. 

I engineered it. Introduced in 1997, 

the P300 Power Plant started a whole 

new class of high-end audio/video 

components—known today as AC 

Power Conditioners. 

Listen, I’ve been around the block 

a few times with PS Audio and 

Paul McGowan. So I know what I’m 

talking about. 

Going, going, gone 

I’d suspected he was losing it 

several years ago. Paul started coming 

up with wild ideas. The clincher was 

something he called the Quintet. 

It was maybe two years ago. 

Paul came into my office and asked, 

“Want to hear a crazy idea?” 

Paul had seen some studies about a 

radical new concept, called Nanocrystalline 

technology. It appeared to 

overcome the inverse relationship of 

AC cleaning to available power. 

This was a thorny problem that all 

high-end AC power conditioners 

faced. If you wanted to thoroughly 

clean the AC line, it required lots of 

wire, which hurt the dynamics in 

audio and the contrast in video. 

Nanocrystalline technology appeared 

to solve that issue. 

Paul had this wild 

idea that if we 

could use 

this new 

Nanocrystalline 

technology, we could 

build much higher 

performing AC power conditioners, 

more compact and more affordable. 

Impossible dream 

Unfortunately, that was only the 

beginning. Once we figured out how 

to employ Nanocrystalline, Paul went 

off the deep end. He directed our 

engineering team to develop a new 

product he called the Quintet Power 

Center. 

Here’s just part of his list: 

• Include 5 new filters, independently 

isolated(!), with two AC outlets per 

filter. 

• Unrestricted power for an entire 

system. 

• Solid copper buss bars—no wimpy 

wires or circuit board traces. 

• Spike and far more critical surge 

protection (not available from other 

high-end conditioners regardless of 

claims). 

• Half-inch solid aluminum chassis. 

• Power sequencing, remote 12-volt 

triggering, CATV and telephone 

protection, etc. 

Method to his madness? 

Astonishingly, the Quintet beat 

every competitors’ high-end passive 

AC power conditioner 

we tested, even the 

$2,000+ variety. So maybe 

there was some method to Paul’s 

madness after all... 

But then crazy Paul did the 

unthinkable. He set the price at $695. 

With regrets, 

Bob Stadtherr 

Bob Stadtherr, VP of Engineering 

PS—Hurry. Get yourself a Quintet 

before Paul’s medications kick in. 

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plinth is massively good for one thing 

only: the storing of unwanted resonant 

energy (which always gets rereleased, 

and which doesn’t wait for you 

to flip the record over before doing 

so). That plinth sits on three of the 

same multi-tiered rubber pods that 

have supported Rega Planar turntables 

since time out of mind: Each of 

the three feet supports an area of different 

mass compared with the other 

two, and is thus “tuned” to a slightly 

different frequency. 

The Rega P1 also uses the same sort 

of molded subplatter, with the same 

sort of interference-fit bearing spindle, 

as Planars gone by, and to which is fitted 

the same round-cross-section drive 

belt. The outside diameter of the P1’s 

bearing well is only 7 ⁄16" compared with 

the 1 1 ⁄16" of the P3, yet their bores are 

the same, as are their captured thrust 

balls and reddish gear oil. The Dutchsourced 

AC motor is a bit less refined 

than the one used in the P2 and P3, 

and topped with a similarly less select 

pulley; the only drive circuitry to speak 

of is the usual three-part “phasing” network, 

to get the platter turning in the 

proper direction. 

That’s all well and good. But in 

order to sell the P1 for $350—a significant 

savings 1 compared with the 

already affordable P2 ($525)—Rega had 

to economize in two other, more 

major ways. The first of those is the 

aforementioned RB100 tonearm, 

which is outwardly similar to the very 

successful RB300 family of arms, 

despite its simpler construction: The 

one-piece armtube casting has given 

way to a simple alloy tube with a bonded 

aluminum headshell, and the 

spring-actuated downforce of the more 

expensive tonearms—actually an 

adjustable spring whose upward pressure 

is relieved as downforce is 

increased—has been replaced with a 

simple adjustable counterweight. 

Damped cueing and magnetic antiskating 

remain, as does the arm’s basic 

effective length of 240mm. 

The second major scale-back is even 

more drastic: For the P1, Rega has forgone 

their famous glass platter in favor 

of one machined from MDF. That’s 

right: Put away the Windex and get out 

the Pledge. The fiberboard platter is 

11 ⁄16" thick, and is machined in an effort 

to concentrate a bit more mass toward 

1 By my calculation, the P1 is 33.3% less expensive 

than the P2. Surely that is not a coincidence. 

REGA P1 

the periphery than toward the 

center—although I can’t imagine 

it makes much of a difference, 

given MDF’s low mass. 

The platter is sprayed black 

and topped with a somewhat 

coarser version of the standard 

Rega felt mat. 

Setup 

In an effort to make the P1 

record player even more attractive 

to the first-time buyer, 

Rega bundles it with an Ortofon 

OMB 5E, a moving-magnet 

phono cartridge of presumably 

humble cost. (The OMB 

5E, an OEM-only model 

offered with record players 

from a number of different 

manufacturers, can’t be purchased separately.) 

In fact, Rega hasn’t just bundled 

the cartridge—they’ve installed it, and 

aligned it to perfection. 2 

There’s even more to it than that— 

or less, depending on your point of 

view: In mapping out their new 

RB100 tonearm, Rega designed its 

counterweight so that the user could 

scoot it all the way forward, to the 

limit of its travel, to achieve a tracking 

force of approximately 1.75gm when 

used with a cartridge weighing 

4.8gm—which just happens to be the 

mass of the humble Ortofon. 

The implication, while less than 

staggering, is at least mildly impressive: 

To get the P1 up and running, all you 

have to do is remove it from its box, 

plug it in, snap the hinged dustcover in 

place, put the platter and mat on the 

subplatter, place the counterweight on 

the tonearm, rotate the counterweight 

toward the bearing until it can move 

no farther, slide the antiskating control 

toward the notch labeled “2,” and play 

records. You don’t need a horoscope or 

a microscope. 

I tried mounting other cartridges in 

the P1—noting, in the process, that the 

Ortofon was a little too tall for an 

unshimmed Rega tonearm—and had 

especially good luck with both a Rega 

Elys moving-magnet and a Goldring 

Elite moving-coil. Even without 

2 The cartridge on my sample was indeed set up perfectly, 

but in accordance with Rega’s own alignment 

scheme: a double-null geometry that differs from others 

in that its innermost null point is closer to the leadout 

groove. Prospective buyers should also note that 

the RB100 has shorter cartridge-alignment slots than 

other Rega tonearms, and does not allow quite enough 

overhang to achieve perfect Baerwald alignment with 

many cartridges. 

The Rega P1 refuses to blend with its surroundings. 

numerical calibrations on the counterweight, 

downforce was easy to set: A 

half-turn of the weight corresponded 

with a 1gm change in force (confirmed 

with my Technics electronic pressure 

gauge). Counter to my experience 

with other Rega arms, the RB100’s 

antiskating force seemed a bit on the 

high side for a given downforce-correlated 

setting. 

The RB100’s bearings appeared free 

of egregious friction—although the high 

residual antiskating force made this a little 

more difficult than usual to check— 

and while the MDF platter wasn’t 

entirely free from runout error, it was 

shockingly good for a product in this 

price range. I’ve seen platters on fourfigure 

turntables, made of both alloy 

and acrylic, that weren’t nearly as true. 

Platter speed was spot-on at 45rpm, but 

over 1% high at 33.3rpm, which most 

users would consider audible. 

Performance 

The Rega P1 surprised me by being 

the rare turntable whose performance 

changed noticeably during the breakin 

period. It was a decently musical 

player right from the start, but its 

sound became a bit cleaner after the 

first week, with an audible decrease in 

flutter. Perhaps the bearing, or even the 

drive motor itself, required running in? 

Whatever the reason, it took a little 

while for the Rega to sound like itself— 

which I would describe as unsurprisingly 

pacey, and not at all bright or crisp. 

Listeners whose analog experience runs 

deeper, and whose tastes are arguably 

more sophisticated, might consider the 

P1 a bit dark sounding; I imagine that its 

target audience will think of it less as 


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dark and more as forgiving. 

As in: forgiving of crappy-sounding 

records, among whose number my copy 

of the Flying Burrito Brothers’ The Gilded 

Palace of Sin (A&M SP 4175) must 

surely count. It’s a worn-out copy of an 

indifferent pressing of a foolishly equalized 

recording—but on the Rega P1 it 

sounded downright tolerable. Fact is, I 

was able to enjoy it with this player 

somewhat more than with other, more 

expensive rigs I’ve had in-house. 

As for most other LPs I tried, the 

Rega P1 didn’t just do an adequate job 

with musical basics—it nailed them. 

On Neil Young’s “When God Made 

Me,” from Prairie Wind (Reprise/Classic 

49593-1), the choir in the final 

verse makes its entrance on the off 

beat—and the Rega captured the tension 

in those moments to fine, dramatic 

effect. On the Peter Maag 

recording of Mendelssohn’s Hebrides 

Overture (Decca/Speakers Corner 

SXL 2246/45), although the P1 didn’t 

have the same clarity in the bass registers 

as the more expensive Rega P3, 

the P1 did a comparably fine job of 

putting across the tension in the playing, 

and the piece’s momentum and 

flow overall. 

And while the aforementioned 

more expensive Rega player was better 

at communicating the differences 

between, say, a Fender and a Rickenbacker 

electric bass, the P1 was 

almost as good at letting Klaus Voorman’s 

great, simple bass line in 

“Remember,” from John Lennon’s 

Plastic Ono Band (Apple SW 3372), 

sound deep and tuneful and appropriately 

insistent. 

Surprisingly, the Rega P1 was also 

very good with spatial information, 

especially when used with the 

Goldring MC cartridge—which didn’t 

outclass or outperform the inexpensive 

RB100 in any way that I 

could hear. That Neil Young record 

came across with fine depth and, for 

lack of a better word, specificity; so did 

that clear and slightly forward 

recording of Schubert’s String Quintet 

in C, D.956, by the Bulgarian 

Quartet plus Roland Pidoux (Musical 

Heritage Society 4118)—the 

instruments sounded big, present, 

and remarkably solid. 

What did the significantly more 

expensive Rega P9 ($4495 with 

arm)—or the Linn LP12 ($2400 without 

arm), for that matter—have over 

the P1? Apart from very slightly 

REGA P1 

deeper bass and richer, more realistic 

colors and textures, the move to a 

more sophisticated turntable netted an 

even more natural, organic sense of 

flow—or, looked at from the other 

direction, a less mechanical sound. 

Consequently, listening to a record and 

appreciating it as music was easier with 

the better players, although the P1 was 

acceptably good enough in that regard. 

And in case “acceptably good” sounds 

like faint praise, keep in mind that a 

few more expensive contemporary 

turntables that I’ve heard, and more 

than a few CD players, don’t even get 

that far. 

Sonically, as opposed to musically, 

the only consistent flaw I heard in the 

P1’s performance was a lingering trace 

of pitch instability, as heard in sustained 

piano chords and the like. On records 

such as a fine reissue of Clifford Curzon’s 

A Liszt Recital (Decca/Speakers 

Corner SXL 6076), and even during 

some of the many long legato phrases in 

the Adagio of Mahler’s Symphony 3, 

with Jascha Horenstein and the London 

Symphony Orchestra (Nonesuch 

HB-73023), the P1 sounded less clear, 

less certain than the best, and not quite 

as easy to relax with. But the shortcom- 


ANALOG SOURCES Linn LP12 turntable, 

Naim Armageddon power supply, 

Naim Aro tonearm; Rega P3 

turntable, Rega RB300 tonearm; 

Rega P9 turntable, Rega RB900 tonearm; 

Miyabi 47, Supex 900 Super, 

Goldring Elite, Lyra Helikon Mono, 

Rega Elys cartridges; Tamura TKS-83 

step-up transformers. 

DIGITAL SOURCE Sony SCD-777ES 


PREAMPLIFICATION Linn Linto 

phono preamplifier; Fi, Lamm LL2, 

Artemis Labs LA-1 preamplifiers. 

POWER AMPLIFIERS Lamm ML2.1, 

Quad II monoblocks. 

LOUDSPEAKERS Quad ESL. 

CABLES Interconnect: Audio Note 

AN-Vx, Nordost Heimdall & Valhalla. 

Speaker: Nordost Heimdall, solidcore 

silver homemades. AC: JPS Labs 

The Digital (CD players); JPS Aluminata, 

Cardas Golden Reference 

(other components). 

ACCESSORIES Mana Reference 

Table & Reference Wall Shelf (turntable); 

Ayre Myrtle Blocks (various 

other components). —Art Dudley 

ing was small, and heard only in comparison 

with better gear: It didn’t 

intrude on my average record-listening 

experience. 

Conclusions 

Although I’d worked in a hi-fi shop for 

a number of years before 1980, that 

was the year of my initiation 3 into perfectionist 

audio. That was when I 

bought—from an honest-to-goodness 

audio salon—a Rega Planar 2 record 

player. Then as now, the seriousness of 

a record player was gauged by its lack 

of frills, and the Planar 2 was nothing if 

not serious. In making it, Rega disconcerned 

themselves with gimmicks, and 

pared their product down to what was 

needed to make recorded music sound 

convincing and real. 

As they have here—with one key difference: 

The Rega P1 marks the first 

time in my experience that a designer 

whose work sometimes ranks with the 

very best has created an audio component 

this affordable. And by affordable I 

don’t mean relatively affordable, as with 

our favorite entry-level Koetsus, entrylevel 

Wilsons, and even entry-level 

Linns. I mean affordable as in cheap, as in 

sane, as in reachable by anyone with a job. 

The all-English-made Rega P1 also 

marks the first time in recent memory 

that a high-tech company hasn’t resorted 

to outsourcing in order to bring to 

market a high-quality, very-high-value 

product. Kudos to Roy Gandy for his 

ingenuity in doing so, and for keeping 

Rega’s work among Rega’s people. 

Consider: A brand-new SME 

Model 30 record player costs approximately 

$35,000 when equipped with 

its companion Series V tonearm. I’ve 

never had one in my system, but I suppose 

that the 30 is at least pretty good, 

and that buying one would be an 

effective way of making yourself 

happy. Then again, you could use the 

same amount of money to buy a hundred 

or so Rega P1s and give them to a 

hundred or so friends whose musicbuying 

habits could benefit from the 

motivational equivalent of a good, 

swift kick in the ass. That would probably 

bring lots of happiness into the 

world as well. Very strongly recommended. 

■■ 

3 It didn’t involve binge drinking or the use of wooden 

paddles on naked frosh: That would come later, in 

1985. 


Larry Greenhill 

DESCRIPTION Two-channel, solid-state network 

music player with built in WiFi adapter, 

400MHz Blackfin DSP chip, and 16MB buffer 

RAM. Connectors: Ethernet (one), analog line 

out ( 1 ⁄8" variable or fixed level), digital S/PDIF 

output (RCA coaxial and TosLink), Wired Network 

(Ethernet), Wireless Network (WiFi). 

Maximum analog line output: 2.83V 

peak–peak (1V RMS). Dynamic range: 90dB. 

THD: –90dB, typical. Signal/noise: 96dB. Sample 

rates supported (kHz): 8, 11, 12, 16, 22.05, 

24, 32, 44.1, 48. Bit depth supported: 8, 16, 

stereo or mono. File formats handled: MP3, 

AAC, WMA, DRM WMA, WAV, AIFF, LPCM, 

Rhapsody Music (WMA Lossless supported 

only when using Windows Media Connect, 

which transcodes to LPCM; Apple Lossless, 

FLAC, Ogg-Vorbis supported with optional 

third-party software; protected AAC files purchased 

from iTunes Music Store are not supported). 

Online music stores supported: Rhapsody, 

Napster, WalMart.com, MusicNow, MSN- 

Music, Plays for Sure, Apple Music Store 

(iTunes), Musicmatch. System requirements 

for network: Ethernet 100BaseT RJ-45 or builtin 

802.11b WiFi support, broadband Internet 

connection. Music-server requirements for 

streaming music on computers: for Windows 

PC, 500MHz Pentium-class processor or better; 

for Macintosh, 400MHz G3 processor or 

better; 128MB RM minimum; operating system 

for PC (Windows XP SP2) or Macintosh 

(OS X v10.15 or later). Music-server software 

supported: Windows Media Connect, Rhapsody, 

iTunes, SlimServer, MusicMatch. Number 

of SoundBridge network music players to call 

up same music library: 10 at once for 

non–DRM-wrapped digital files. 

DIMENSIONS Cylindrical: 10" (256mm) W by 

2.37" (60mm) diameter. Weight: 1.5 lbs 

(0.7kg). 

FINISH Black with silver trim. 

SERIAL NUMBER OF UNIT REVIEWED 

M1001XD6D000299, purchased by reviewer. 

Firmware: v.2.5. 

PRICE $199.99. Approximate number of dealers: 

1100. Guarantee: 30 days, money back. 

Warranty: 1 year parts & labor, transferable. 

MANUFACTURER Roku LLC, 399 Sherman 

Avenue, Suite 12, Palo Alto, CA 94306. Tel: 

(888) 600-7658, (650) 321-1394. Fax: (650) 

321-9648. Web: www.rokulabs.com. 


Roku 

SoundBridge M1001 

NETWORK MUSIC PLAYER 

The Roku SoundBridge M1001 network music player with remote. 

My interest in wireless network music players began during 

David Hyman’s keynote speech at Home Entertainment 

2003. Then CEO of Gracenote, Inc., 1 Hyman stunned me 

with his opinion that CDs and DVDs were already obsolete. 

Rather than pursue discs with greater storage capacity, 

Hyman urged industry designers to design music-server 

units with large hard drives to allow instantaneous access to 

any digital music track. With all of your music stored on a central hard drive, you 

could, within seconds, locate a specific track among thousands just by knowing 

the name of the artist, song, group, composer, year of recording, or even recording 

venue. Music mixes could be instantly grouped into playlists by the owner. 

Hyman’s 30-minute talk, while spellbinding, raised issues of feasibility that 

1 Gracenote, Inc., is best known for operating the Music Recognition Service (MRS), a large online database. iTunes 

and other Internet music stores tap into MRS to automatically label downloads with artist, song title, and other 

information for users to apply when copying CDs to their personal computers. Gracenote’s CD Trustee shareware 

program (available at www.base40.com) can automatically catalog, organize, and display an entire music collection 

if the user simply inserts each CD in turn in his computer’s hard drive. Gracenote’s Music Library 1.0 (www.wen 

software.com/MusicLibrary) is a shareware database application that allows a user to catalog and play music files 

and media stored on the user’s home computer. 


seemed insurmountable. Would audiophiles 

want to spend the time required 

to rip their favorite tracks to a computer’s 

hard drive? And wouldn’t a drive 

large enough to hold high-definition 

audio files be prohibitively expensive? 

Only three years later, Hyman’s 

dream has materialized. Hard-drive storage 

capacity per price point has jumped 

almost a hundredfold. Gracenote has 

become the international leader in digital 

media technology and services, providing 

complete management systems 

for digital media. There has been explosive 

growth in the number of online 

music vendors—iTunes.com, Rhapsody. 

com, Urge.com, and Napster.com, to 

name a few—that sell or rent downloadable 

music to music lovers. 

MEASUREMENTS 

To measure the Roku SoundBridge M1001, my original 

plan was to use it to access the uncompressed 

test-tone data files residing in the iTunes library on 

the Mac mini that acts as my household music 

server. Unfortunately, while the Roku recognized the existence 

of both the library and the SlimServer software that 

feeds the library to my Squeezebox, I kept getting a “SERVER 

NOT RESPONDING” error message when I tried to browse that 

library. I checked that the Mac’s Network, Firewall, and 

Music Sharing settings were correct, but to no avail, so I 

ended up installing iTunes for Windows on my test lab’s 

PC and using that, which the SoundBridge had no problem 

accessing. 

The Roku’s analog output level into 100k ohms with its 

volume control set to “100%” was 813mV RMS, which is a 

little lower than the 1V (2.83V peak–peak) specified. The 

player did preserve absolute polarity; ie, was non-inverting. 

The output impedance at midrange and high frequencies 

was relatively high, at 1k ohm. This in itself will not 

lead to problems. However, the impedance rose to an 

extreme 11k ohms at 20Hz, meaning that the Roku’s bass 

will sound rolled-off from its analog output unless it is 

Fig.1 Roku SoundBridge M1001, frequency response at –12dBFS into 100k 

ohms (right channel dashed, 0.5dB/vertical div.). 

Reflecting this sea change in music 

distribution, John Atkinson recently 

reviewed three network music players: 

the Apple Airport Express WiFi 

Hub ($129, May 2005, Vol.28 No.5), 

the Slim Devices Squeezebox ($299, 

September 2006, Vol.29 No.9), and 

the Sonos ZP80 Bundle ($999, October 

2006, Vol.29 No.10). First, he 

centralized his extensive home 

library of digital music recordings on 

a Mac mini’s hard drive, then wirelessly 

distributed digital music files to 

different rooms in his house over his 

wireless local area network (WiFi 

LAN). He could then use each player 

to wirelessly direct the streaming digital 

files from his hard drive to his 

high-end music system via a Mark 

Levinson No.30.6 D/A converter. 

John found the sound first-rate—he 

had to listen intently to hear any 

meaningful sonic differences between 

the networked music player’s digital 

output fed to the outboard DAC and 

the digital output of an expensive CD 

player playing the original CD and 

feeding the same DAC. 

Which brings me to the Roku 

SoundBridge M1001 network music 

player ($199.99). The SoundBridge can 

play downloaded music files that are 

protected by licensing software— 

Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management 

(DRM), v.10, using Windows’ Plays for 

Sure protocol. This seemed an excellent 

reason for me to buy a SoundBridge to 

play my own digital files. 

used with a preamp having an unusually high input 

impedance of 100k ohms or more. Even though there is 

still a slight low-bass rolloff into 100k ohms, of –1dB at 

18Hz (fig.1), this probably won’t be audible. Of more 

interest in this graph is the slight response ripple evident 

in the midrange and treble, which implies that the Sound- 

Bridge uses a rather old-fashioned digital filter. Channel 

separation (not shown) was better than 85dB in both 

directions below 1kHz, but decreased to 60dB at 20kHz, 

which is still adequate. 

My primary test to examine a DAC’s resolution is to 

sweep a 1 ⁄3-octave bandpass filter down from 20kHz to 

20Hz while the DAC decodes data representing a dithered 

1kHz tone at –90dBFS. I initially had a problem in that the 

SoundBridge seemed very sensitive to picking up hum 

fields from other audio components. I had to place it well 

away from everything else in order to be sure that the 

results I measured from its analog outputs truly reflected 

its intrinsic performance. That performance was puzzling: 

the 1kHz tone was reproduced with a large positive error 

and a significant amount of second-harmonic content 

Fig.2 Roku SoundBridge M1001, 1 ⁄3-octave spectrum with noise and spuriae 

of dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS, 16-bit data (right channel 

dashed). 


Before we begin… 

A network music player is not a music 

server. 2 The primary job of a music 

server is to store digital music files and 

distribute them elsewhere. A music 

player facilitates the distant control of 

these files, using the owner’s generalpurpose 

WiFi network to wirelessly 

2 The Roku SoundBridge can’t be called a music or 

media server because it lacks an internal hard drive to 

store music and/or video files, though its accompanying 

software distributes files to other components for 

playback. The owner of a digital music player must set 

up the files of his music library on his computer’s hard 

drive. Alternatively, a separate external hard drive, or 

Network Attached Storage (NAS) drive—such as a 

Maxtor Shared Storage (Plus) or a Buffalo Linksys—can 

be used to store the music files. One attaches an NAS 

to the WiFi’s router via an Ethernet cable. The drive’s 

icon will then appear on the PC’s screen whenever the 

owner pulls up the “My Network Places” page. 

(fig.2). The noise floor is also much higher in level than is 

usually found with 16-bit audio data. This is very poor 

behavior. There is a slight peak evident at 60Hz in this 

graph. Repeating the spectral analysis but with data representing 

digital black gave the pair of traces shown in fig.3: 

Fig.3 Roku SoundBridge M1001, 1 ⁄3-octave spectrum with noise and spuriae 

of digital black, 16-bit data (right channel dashed). 

Fig.4 Roku SoundBridge M1001, left-channel departure from linearity, 16bit 

data (10dB/vertical div.). 

ROKU SOUNDBRIDGE M1001 

transport them from the music server’s 

hard drive to an audio system. The 

WiFi network allows the player to be 

placed anywhere in the home. 

The SoundBridge M1001 depends 

either on iTunes or on free opensource 

software, such as Windows 

Media Connect or Slim Devices’ 

SlimServer, running on the musicserver 

computer. Once this server 

software is running, the SoundBridge 

has many functions. Its large fluorescent 

display shows track title, composer, 

album name, or even real-time 

spectral analysis. 

Description 

The SoundBridge M1001 comes in a 

blister pack, along with a well-written 

manual, a wall-wart power supply, a 

remote control (two AAA batteries are 

included), a 1 ⁄8" (3.5mm)-to-RCA cable, 

and a detachable rubber base to steady 

the cylindrical SoundBridge when it’s 

placed on a flat surface. Its rear panel 

has a socket for an Ethernet cable, a 

separate area for a stereo line-level 

jack, an RCA jack for the S/PDIF 

coax, and a TosLink connector. 

The player itself is a thin tube of 

black and silver anodized aluminum. 

Much of its front panel is taken up by 

a fluorescent 200x150-pixel display 

that runs almost the full 10" width of 

the player. The SoundBridge has both 

digital (coaxial and optical) and analog 

outputs. Its audio circuitry includes a 

proprietary 20-bit DAC to drive its 

while the noisefloor is lower in level than in fig.2, powersupply–related 

peaks can be seen at 60Hz and 180Hz, 

and another peak of unknown origin is evident just below 

60kHz. 

Tying in with the amplitude error in fig.2, the Roku’s 

plot of linearity error against absolute signal level is very 

poor (fig.4). Not only do signals below –78dBFS suffer an 

increasingly positive error, the DAC is “deaf” to signals 

with a level of –75dBFS, hence the notch in the linearity 

error trace at that level. Probably what is happening is 

that a DAC code error is leading to frequency doubling at 

that level, minimizing the fundamental’s energy in favor of 

the second harmonic. (I had already returned the Sound- 

Bridge to Larry Greenhill when I analyzed these test data, 

otherwise I would have run more tests to confirm this 

conjecture. I will do so in a “Follow-Up.”) Because of the 

linearity error, the SoundBridge’s reproduction of an 

undithered 1kHz tone at exactly –90.31dBFS reproduces 

at a higher level than expected, but with what should be 

just three clearly delineated DC voltage levels overlaid by 

noise (fig.5). 

Tested for conventional harmonic distortion, the 

Fig.5 Roku SoundBridge M1001, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave 

at –90.31dBFS, 16-bit data. 


analog output. Its S/PDIF and DAC 

clocks are driven by a 24.5297MHz 

crystal oscillator. 

The SoundBridge handles most digital 

music formats, including MP3, 

AAC, AIF, WAV, ALC, Ogg-Vorbis, 

Windows Media, and FLAC. When 

your music-server software sends compressed 

music files to the SoundBridge, 

it decodes them in real time to PCM 

before sending them on to its DAC 

and S/PDIF outputs. 


SoundBridge produced reasonably low levels of spuriae. 

Fig.6 was taken with the Roku decoding data representing 

a full-scale 1kHz tone into a fairly low impedance of 8k 

ohms. The volume control was set to “88%” (–7dB) for 

this measurement, because I wanted to make sure I was 

not overdriving the unit’s output. The THD was a very low 

0.006% from both channels, with the third harmonic the 

highest in level at –85dB. But note the picket fence of 

spurious tones in the Roku’s output. Yes, these are all 

almost 100dB below the level of the signal, but they 

shouldn’t be there at all. Suspecting that the volume control 

was to blame, I repeated the test with it set to 

“100%,” but other than the increase in volume, the result 

was identical. The SoundBridge’s analog output was less 

well behaved at low frequencies: even into 100k ohms, a 

full-scale 50Hz tone was accompanied by the third harmonic 

at –62dB and the fifth at –74dB (fig.7). The distortion 

components rose considerably with the SoundBridge 

driving a low 600-ohm load (not shown). This player is 

not comfortable driving low frequencies into impedances 

much below 10k ohms, in my opinion. 

Intermodulation distortion with an equal mix of 19kHz 

and 20kHz tones was respectably low (fig.8), but again, 

the noise floor in this graph is obscured by spurious tones. 

Finally, when tested for its rejection of word-clock jitter on 

the incoming audio data using the Miller Jitter Analyzer, 

the SoundBridge produced a very high 3 nanoseconds 

peak–peak of jitter. Fig.9 is a narrowband spectrum of the 

DAC’s analog output while it decoded 44.1kHz data repre- 

Fig.6 Roku SoundBridge M1001, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave at 0dBFS into 

8k ohms, volume control at “88%” (–7dB) (linear frequency scale). 

Why the SoundBridge Plays 

for Sure 

Under its Plays for Sure protocol, and 

as explained on its website, 3 Microsoft 

licenses to and permits distribution and 

playback of DRM-protected musical 

material by only two network music 

players—those made by Roku and D- 

Link. This means that the SoundBridge 

3 www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/for 

pros/drm/sdksandversions.aspx#compare. 

can play protected music files downloaded, 

for example, from 

Napster.com, Rhapsody.com, MSN_ 

Music_Now.com, and WalMart.com. 

When you click on the protected 

song’s title with the Roku’s remote, the 

SoundBridge displays the message 

“ACQUIRING LICENSE,” signifying that 

it is matching its code to that of the 

DRM-wrapped music file. That done, 

the player can then receive the protected 

file over a home network, though 

senting a high-level tone at exactly one-quarter the sample 

rate, over which had been laid the LSB toggling on 

and off at exactly 1/192 the sample rate. Data-related 

sidebands are absent, but: the noise floor is 15dB higher 

than with the best 16-bit DACs I have measured; the central 

peak representing the 11.025kHz tone is broadened at 

its base, presumably due to low-frequency random jitter; 

and a plethora of sidebands can be seen, either powersupply–related 

(brown numeric markers) or of unknown 

origin (purple). 

LG did note that he was not impressed by the sound of 

the Roku SoundBridge’s analog outputs, and so ended up 

using its S/PDIF output to feed digital audio data to an 

outboard D/A processor, which should have bypassed all 

the problems with the implementation of the Sound- 

Bridge’s analog circuitry. To check that this was indeed the 

case, I connected first its TosLink output, then its coaxial 

digital output to the Musical Fidelity X-24K that serves as 

my test lab’s utility DAC. The X-24K has excellent jitter 

rejection (see www.stereophile.com/digitalproces 

sors/825/index7.html), producing just 240 picoseconds 

peak–peak when fed from the soundcard in my PC by a 

TosLink connection. However, the TosLink connection from 

the Roku gave a high 2083ps of jitter (2.08ns) in the 

Musical Fidelity’s output, with the spectral analysis (fig.10) 

indicating a series of sidebands spaced at 150Hz and its 

harmonics to the sides of the spectral line representing 

the 11.025kHz tone. Note also the regular series of spurious 

tones in this graph, indicated with green numeric 

Fig.7 Roku SoundBridge M1001, spectrum of 50Hz sinewave at 0dBFS into 

100k ohms, volume control at “100%” (linear frequency scale). 


the file can be played in only one room 

at a time. (The Sonos system allows 

several players to play simultaneously.) 

The DRM-wrapped FairPlay AAC 

files downloaded from Apple’s iTunes 

Store will not play, however. 

Installing the SoundBridge 

I initially installed the SoundBridge 

M1001 on my office desk, next to the 

laptop that serves as my music server. 

The SoundBridge has no physical user 

markers and all between –92dB and –95dB. I have no 

idea what these might be due to—they are certainly not 

jitter-related. 

I did some Googling online to see if anyone had noted 

anything similar. I didn’t find any such comments, but 

what I did find was some discussion on the Roku Web 

forum (http://forums.rokulabs.com) about the fact that 

the SoundBridge converts the sample rate of incoming 

data to 48kHz before presenting it to the internal DAC and 

the S/PDIF digital output. I checked the X-24K’s samplerate 

indicator when it was supposedly being fed 44.1kHzsampled, 

CD-derived data by the SoundBridge: “48kHz”! 

A Roku spokesperson on the Web forum stated that 

though this design decision “makes passing 44.1kHz 

sources through untouched impossible . . . we’ve used a 

very high quality sample-scaling routine in an effort to 

make the resampling as good as possible and it should be 

inaudible.” Yes, the SoundBridge does use Analog Devices’ 

respected Blackfin DSP chip, but my experience has been 

that converting data with a sampling rate of 44.1kHz to 

one with a 48kHz rate is difficult to do with sufficient precision. 

It looks as if the Roku’s automatic but, in my opinion, 

unnecessary conversion to 48kHz compromises the 

audio data’s noise floor by introducing mathematical artifacts 

that I would be surprised wouldn’t be audible. Add 

that corruption of its digital output to its underperforming 

DAC and analog circuitry, and you can see why I was disappointed 

by the Roku SoundBridge M1001. It actually 

Fig.8 Roku SoundBridge M1001, HF intermodulation spectrum, 19+20kHz 

at 0dBFS peak into 8k ohms, volume control at “100%” (linear 

frequency scale). 


controls—it must be operated from its 

remote or from a computer via a WiFi or 

Ethernet connection. Setup was easy, and 

as I browsed my music library on my laptop, 

the SoundBridge displayed all of the 

album and song titles and artist names of 

music I’d ripped from my favorite CDs 

using Windows Media Player software. 

Then, trouble: I’d visited www.nap 

ster.com to buy October’s “Recording 

of the Month,” Keith Jarrett’s The 

Carnegie Hall Concert (ECM 1989/90). 

Once I’d entered my credit-card information, 

Napster had rapidly downloaded 

the 13 files that make up the 

two-CD set and written them to my 

hard drive as DRM-wrapped, lossless 

WMA files. Download completed, I 

browsed my music library, found the 

album, and clicked on the first track, 

Part 1. The SoundBridge displayed 

“ACQUIRING LICENSE”; then, its time 

display showed that the music was 

flowing through the M1001. Just to 

measures worse than the DAC in the cheaper Apple Airport 

Express WiFi base station (see 

www.stereophile.com/computeraudio/505apple), let 

alone that in the more expensive Slim Devices Squeezebox 

(see www.stereophile.com/mediaservers/207slim). 

Very disappointing. —John Atkinson 

Fig.9 Roku SoundBridge M1001, high-resolution jitter spectrum of 

analog output signal (11.025kHz at –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz 

with LSB toggled at 229Hz), 16-bit CD data. Center frequency of 

trace, 11.025kHz; frequency range, ±3.5kHz. 

Fig.10 Musical Fidelity X-24K, high-resolution jitter spectrum of analog 

output signal (11.025kHz at –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB 

toggled at 229Hz), 16-bit CD data sourced from Roku SoundBridge 

via TosLink connection. Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; 



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check, I switched from Windows’ 

Media Connect 2.0 server program to 

Roku’s Firefly open-source server program 

(www.rokulabs.com/support_ 

sb_dwnld_firefly.php). Not having 

WMC’s DRM option, Firefly could 

see but not play the Jarrett tracks. 

However, when I then switched back 

to WMC 2.0, I managed to shut out all 

of the unprotected music files I’d copied 

from my favorite CDs. While I could 

see the Jarrett tracks on the Sound- 

Bridge’s display, all my ripped files had 

disappeared. Nothing I did persuaded 

the SoundBridge to recognize the other 

music files on my hard drive. I felt 

dumb. Then I felt dumber. 

After two days of failing to solve the 

problem, I e-mailed Dan Sletten, 

Roku’s software engineer. He had 

experienced the same problem with 

WMC 2.0 shutting out unprotected 

files after downloading protected 

music tracks from MTV’s music store, 

www.urge.com. He advised me to 

drag all of my digital music files out of 

my music library’s folder and onto the 

laptop’s desktop, then back into my 

music library again. After WMC was 

first stopped, then restarted on its 

“sharing” page, all of my music reappeared 

on the SoundBridge’s display. I 

was back in business. 

Remote control and Web 

control 

The SoundBridge M1001 can be controlled 

with its remote or through a 

Web page on a PC. Either way, while 

playing music through the Sound- 

Bridge, you can: browse media; add 

songs to a current playlist; browse by 

artist, composer, or album title; fast 

browse; play Internet Radio via Universal 

Plug and Play (UPnP), even 

when your PC is turned off; change 

the display’s text sizes or brightness; 

control the SoundBridge with a PDA 

or Crestron system; support iTunes 

Network Music sharing; and upgrade 

the SoundBridge’s firmware via the 

Internet. (If the firmware that controls 

the SoundBridge is accidentally 

corrupted, the player can be run in a 

restricted Safe Mode that allows it to 

download an intact copy of the 

firmware from Roku.) And once a 

song has begun to play, the Sound- 

Bridge displays a spectrum analyzer. 

When I set up the SoundBridge, I 

accessed its PC Control and Web Control, 

going through Windows XP’s 

“My Network Places,” where I found 


the SoundBridge’s icon. Double-clicking 

on this icon opens the SoundBridge’s 

Web page (http://192.168.0.103/Sound- 

Bridge.html), which is hard-coded into 

the player’s firmware. This Web Control 

function offers more flexibility than does 

the handheld remote. For example, Web 

Control includes a Stop button; the 

remote doesn’t. 

Then I took the SoundBridge upstairs 

to my listening room and placed it atop 

my Krell KRC-28 CD player. With a 

1.5m length of Wireworld Starlight Digital 

coaxial cable, I connected the Roku’s 

S/PDIF output to the coax input of a 

Bryston B100-DA integrated amplifier 

and DAC. I also used my outboard 

Adcom GDA-700 DAC. When I turned 

on the SoundBridge, it found my WiFi 


MUSIC SERVER IBM X30 laptop 

with 1.2GHz Pentium 3 processor, 

788MHz system board, 760MB RAM, 

and 80GB hard drive running Windows 

XP (v.2002, Service Pack 2). 

WiFi network comprises D-Link Airplus 

Extreme G DWL-G640 Wireless 

108g Notebook PCMCIA adapter 

with D-Link DSL-G800 AP Wireless 

Range Extender. Music-server music 

library: “My Music” subdirectory on 

IBM X30 laptop. Music-server software: 

Windows Media Connect 2.0, 

Firefly, Slim Devices SlimServer. 

ANALOG SOURCES Day-Sequerra 

Signature 1 Reference, McIntosh MR- 

78 FM tuners. 

DIGITAL SOURCES Krell KRC-28 CD 

player; Sony SCD-C555ES multichannel 

SACD/CD player; Slim 

Devices Squeezebox network music 

player; Bryston B100-DA, Adcom 

GDA-700 D/A converters. 

PREAMPLIFIERS Bryston B100-DA, 

Krell KCT, VTL TL-6.5. 

POWER AMPLIFIERS Bryston 4B- 

SST & B100-DA, Mark Levinson 

No.334, Krell FPB-600c, VTL S-400. 

LOUDSPEAKERS Quad ESL-989, 

Revel Ultima Salon, Velodyne DD-18; 

REL Studio III subwoofers. 

CABLES Digital: Wireworld Starlight 

coaxial. Interconnect: Red Rose Silver 

Ones, Krell CAST, Mark Levinson Silver 

single-ended, Bryston balanced. 

Speaker: Ultralink Excelsior 6N OFHC, 

Coincident Speaker Technology CST 1. 

ACCESSORY RadioShack 33-2050 

analog sound-pressure-level meter. 

—Larry Greenhill 

network and connected to it. 

I browsed my music library using 

the remote’s Home, Right, and Select 

buttons. When I found the album I 

wanted to hear, I pressed Play or Select. 

Hitting Select brought up details about 

the track playing: file format, bit rate, 

and sampling rate. 

Playing DRM-wrapped 

music tracks 

Over the two months that I used the 

SoundBridge M1001, I discovered the 

advantages and disadvantages of using 

Windows Media Connect 2.0. The benefits 

included the SoundBridge’s ability 

to play DRM-wrapped files and, when I 

selected an entire album, to automatically 

play all of the album’s songs in the 

proper order. This greatly eased listening 

to all four movements of a performance 

of Beethoven’s Symphony 9, 

which I’d downloaded from iTunes. 

The disadvantages of using the Sound- 

Bridge were actually attributable to the 

instability of the WMC software on my 

PC. First, when I used my laptop to work 

on photographs with Adobe Photoshop 

or Photo Mechanic, these programs 

hogged so much memory that the 

SoundBridge had to interrupt a song to 

rebuffer after playing only a few minutes. 

Second, I had to turn off Windows XP’s 

firewall before WMC 2.0 would connect 

to the SoundBridge, even though I’d listed 

the WMC server as an exception. 

Third, I had to exit all other music 

servers, including SlimServer, Napster, 

Rhapsody, and Firefly, before using the 

SoundBridge. Fourth, I discovered that I 

couldn’t go online while the Sound- 

Bridge was running, or it would stop 

playing. Fifth, every so often my WiFi 

network dropped its connection to my 

laptop, which also stopped the music. I 

began to understand why JA had been so 

positive about using a music player with 

a proprietary wireless distribution system, 

such as the Sonos ZP80. 

Playing music 

To compare the SoundBridge’s analog 

and digital outputs, I connected them to 

the digital and analog inputs of my Bryston 

B100-DA preamplifier. This allowed 

me to switch almost instantaneously 

between the digital stream and the output 

of the SoundBridge’s internal DAC. It 

me took no time at all to determine that 

my downloaded WMA lossless digital 

music files sounded better using the 

SoundBridge’s digital output mode. 

There was a decided drop in level when I 


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switched over to the analog output. Even 

matching the playback level between the 

digital and analog outputs, I heard more 

dynamics, felt more impact in the bass, 

and much preferred the music’s increased 

depth of soundstage and dimensionality 

from the digital output. With some CDs, 

the SoundBridge’s digital output feeding 

the Bryston sounded almost as good as 

that of my Krell CD player. 

But despite its superiority to its analog 

output, even the SoundBridge’s 

digital output was troubled by a subtle 

noise that I couldn’t get rid of by repositioning 

the SoundBridge in relation 

to other equipment. I heard this when, 

at top volume, I played the first 30 seconds 

of digitally recorded silence in 

Samuel Barber’s “Heaven-Haven (A 

Nun Takes the Veil)”—track 18 of Cantus’ 

…Against the Dying of the Light (CD, 

Cantus CTS-1202). The silence was 

perturbed by a slight background noise 

not evident when the same passage 

was played over the Squeezebox. 

Comparison listening to the same 

selections through the Squeezebox was 

revealing. I preferred the Squeezebox’s 

analog output to that of the Roku. The 

SoundBridge’s DAC seemed to collapse 

and flatten the musical soundfield, turning 

the upper-midrange tones harsh and 

bright, and dimming the music’s transparency 

and sheen. With levels 

matched, the SoundBridge’s analog outputs 

had less bass extension, narrower 

soundstage depth, and less transparency 

than did the Squeezebox’s. 

What about the digital output? Even 

though the Roku’s digital output was 

superior to its analog, it wasn’t as sweet, 

open, transparent, or free of hardness as 

the Squeezebox’s, again feeding the Bryston. 

Though Patricia Barber’s voice on 

“Too Rich for My Blood,” from her Café 

Blue (CD, Premonition/Blue Note 5 

21810 2) was well-defined and stood out 

from the background, the SoundBridge 

added brightness and extra dynamics. 

The timbre of Barber’s voice was definitely 

brighter and cooler when the 

SoundBridge fed its digital streaming file 

to the Bryston DAC. Emmylou Harris’ 

thin, delicate, translucent soprano in 

“Calling My Children Back Home,” from 

Spyboy (CD, Eminent EM-25001-2), had 

more dynamics and snap than I recalled 

hearing before playing it through the 

SoundBridge. And in “A Gaelic Blessing,” 

from John Rutter’s The Lord is My Light 

and My Salvation (CD, Reference RR- 

57CD), although the different voices in 

the chorus were well defined, there was 


an edge to the male voices. Somehow in 

these selections, the Squeezebox’s digital 

output was more relaxed than the Roku, 

its timbre smoother. 

The SoundBridge fared better with 

other musical selections, particularly 

those that were primarily instrumental. 

I was particularly delighted with the 

quality of the digital file I’d downloaded 

of Keith Jarrett’s “True Blues” 

piano solo from The Carnegie Hall Concert, 

which sounded most open, involving, 

and lyrical when it was sourced 

from the digital output of either the 

SoundBridge or the Squeezebox. 

Conclusions 

The Roku SoundBridge M1001’s low 

price ($199.99), large display, and ability 

to play DRM-protected files are all positive 

factors for an inexpensive network 

music player. It is less expensive than the 

Sonos ZP80 system ($999), and betters 

Slim Devices’ Squeezebox in that it can 

play DRM-wrapped files downloaded 

from Napster. Roku’s manual and website 

discourage telephone support, so the 

user must rely on a frustrating web-based 

fill-in sheet to get tech support, which 

responds within 24 hours. 

However, I was left with some nagging 

concerns about this otherwise 

promising network music player. First, 

while I strongly preferred the Sound- 

Bridge’s digital output fed to an external 

DAC over its analog outputs, which 

improved the dynamics and soundstage 

depth for orchestra music, I felt that the 

omnipresent low-level noise lent subtle 

colorations to vocal recordings. Second, 

running the SoundBridge with Windows 

Media Connect 2.0 required too 

much maintenance from me. Not only 

did I have to kick-start the music server 

by moving all of my music files out of, 

and then back into, my music subdirectory, 

but WMC 2.0 intermittently slowed 

and stopped until after I’d shut down all 

other software running in the background 

on my laptop. Finally, I couldn’t 

persuade the Windows XP firewall to 

make an exception for the SoundBridge, 

so the firewall had to be shut down as 

well before I could listen to music. 

Roku’s SoundBridge M1001 will 

appeal to those who buy most of their 

recordings from online music stores— 

such as Napster and Rhapsody—that wrap 

their files in Microsoft DRM protection. 

With some caveats, I recommend the 

Roku SoundBridge M1001, using its digital 

outputs, as a cost-effective network 

music player for casual listening. ■■ 

EXPERIENCED 

IMªGINªTIºN... 

JPS 

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TM 

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The World’s Finest Cables 

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Tel 716-656-0810 

Email info@JPSLabs.com 

www.JPSLabs.com 

©2006 JPS Labs LLC 


3

Dielectric-Bias System 

Air-Tubes 

Perfect-Surface Metals 

Noise-Dissipation System 

Cold-Welded OCC Plugs 

Thundering power 

The most delicate fi nesse 

Millions of aural colors. 

What more could you want?

John Atkinson 

DESCRIPTION Two-way, magnetically 

shielded, stand-mounted, reflexloaded 

loudspeaker. Drive-units: 

0.75" (18mm) ferrofluid-cooled, aluminum-dome 

tweeter; 5.25" 

(135mm) metalized polypropylenecone 

woofer. Crossover frequency: 

3kHz (3 rd -order Butterworth). Frequency 

response: 65Hz–21kHz, 

±3dB. Impedance: 6 ohms nominal, 

4 ohms minimum. Sensitivity: 

89dB/2.83V/m (anechoic). Recommended 

amplification: 15–80W, 60W 

program. 

DIMENSIONS 11.75" (299mm) H by 

7" (178mm) W by 9.5" (241mm) D. 

Cabinet volume: 8 liters (0.29 cubic 

foot). Weight: 8.8 lbs (4kg) each. 

FINISHES Black Ash, Maple, Sienna. 

SERIAL NUMBERS OF UNITS 

REVIEWED 04240-605083 & ’4. 

PRICE $279/pair. Approximate number 

of dealers: 300. 

MANUFACTURER PSB Speakers 

International, 633 Granite Court, 

Pickering, Ontario L1W 3K1, Canada. 

Tel: (905) 831-6555. Web: www.psb 

speakers.com. 


PSB 

Alpha B1 

LOUDSPEAKER 

PSB Alpha B loudspeaker 

When audiophiles speak of the “Golden Age” of audio 

components, they almost always are talking about amplifiers 

and preamplifiers, not loudspeakers. While a very 

few speaker models have stood the test of time—among 

them the BBC LS3/5a, the Vandersteen 2, the two Quad 

electrostatics, some of the Magnepans, and the Klipschorn—almost 

no one would disagree that, taken en 

masse, the speakers of today outperform not just those of the 1960s and 1970s 

but even those of the 1980s and 1990s. The advent of low-cost, computerized 

test equipment, high-quality, inexpensive measuring microphones, and persuasive 

research into what measured parameters matter most to listeners who are 

listening for a neutral-sounding, uncolored loudspeaker, 1 has led to an almost 

across-the-board improvement in speaker sound quality. 2 

But perhaps even more significant, and aided by the trend toward the offshore 

manufacture of low-cost speakers, the level of excellence that used to be the preserve 

1 For example, the seminal series of technical papers produced by Floyd Toole with Sean Olive when they were at 

the NRC in Ottawa, Canada, and continued by them after they joined Harman International’s research staff in the 

late 1990s. Their publications are voluminous: for references, surf the index of papers and preprints at www.aes.org. 

See also Jim Austin’s “As We See It” on p.3. 

2 I have to say “almost,” as there are still a small number of one-man speaker companies who appear to believe that 

a limited-production “high-end” speaker is not under the same obligation to either sound neutral or measure well 

as one aimed at the wider market. 


of high-priced designs is now available 

for very much less money than it used to 

be. $1000 buys the impecunious audiophile 

a pair of speakers that in some 

areas are almost beyond reproach. The 

$800/pair NHT Classic Three, which 

Bob Reina reviewed for Stereophile last 

November (pp.101–107, www.stereo 

phile.com/standloudspeakers/1106nht), 

and the $650/pair Epos M5, which he 

reviewed in April 2005 (pp.157–163, 

www.stereophile.com/standloudspeak 

ers/405epos), as well as the diminutive 

$600/pair Era Design 4, which I 

reviewed in January (pp.141–147, 

MEASUREMENTS 

PSB ALPHA B1 

All the measurements were performed with the 

speaker’s grille in place. Despite its small size, the 

PSB Alpha B1 had an estimated voltage sensitivity 

of 87dB(B)/2.83V/m, which is right on the 

average of the speakers I have measured over the years. 

Though its impedance drops to a minimum value of 3.7 

ohms at 235Hz (fig.1), the PSB will be relatively easy to 

drive overall, which is important given the inexpensive 

amplification with which it will be required to operate 

much of the time. 

The traces in the impedance graph are free from the 

small discontinuities that would indicate the presence of 

mechanical resonances of various kinds. Investigating the 

cabinet panels’ vibrational behavior with an accelerometer 

did reveal a fairly strong mode present on all surfaces 

at 560Hz (fig.2), but this is too high in frequency to have 

much of an effect on sound quality. There is also some 

kind of resonant behavior apparent just below 200Hz, 

and I suspect it was this that led to the feeling of congestion 

at high levels. 

The saddle centered on 57Hz in the impedance-magnitude 

plot (fig.1, solid trace) suggests that this is the tuning 

frequency of the rear-facing port. This was confirmed by 

the nearfield responses of the port (fig.3, red trace), which 

peaks between 40Hz and 80Hz, and of the woofer (fig.3, 

blue), which has the expected minimum-motion notch in 

Fig.1 PSB Alpha B1, electrical impedance (solid) and phase (dashed). (2 

ohms/vertical div.) 

www.stereophile.com/standloud 

speakers/107era), set a standard for performance 

in the midrange and treble 

that you need to spend very much more 

to better. 

But what do you lose if you spend 

less? 

That question leads me to the subject 

of this review, the latest version of 

Canadian manufacturer PSB’s bestselling 

Alpha speaker, the Alpha B1, 

which costs just $279/pair. 

Alpha-betical 

The original Alpha was a rather 

tawdry-looking two-way mini that had 

a 6.5" woofer with a vacuum formed 

polypropylene cone and cost just 

$200/pair. But in his July 1992 review 

(www.stereophile.com/standloud 

speakers/792psb), Jack English concluded 

that it was “simply one of the 

best buys in audio, providing a musically 

satisfying sound…a sensational 

audio bargain.” The Alpha went on to 

become one of the most popular 

audiophile speakers ever, with over 

50,000 pairs sold by the end of the last 

century. PSB’s Paul Barton revised the 

Alpha in 1998, replacing its 0.5" plas- 

its output at 57Hz. The port’s upper-frequency output is 

refreshingly free from any resonant peaks. 

The sum of the woofer and port outputs (taking into 

account acoustic phase and the different distances from a 

nominal farfield microphone position) is shown as the 

black trace below 300Hz; even with the usual upper-bass 

boost from the nearfield measurement technique, the 

speaker’s output is down 6dB at 60Hz. The Alpha is defi- 

Fig.2 PSB Alpha B1, cumulative spectral-decay plot calculated from the 

output of an accelerometer fastened to the center of the cabinet’s 

side panel (MLS driving voltage to speaker, 7.55V; measurement 

bandwidth, 2kHz). 

Fig.3 PSB Alpha B1, anechoic response with grille on tweeter axis at 50", 

averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for 

microphone response, with the nearfield responses of the port (red), 

woofer (blue), and their complex sum (black), plotted below 500Hz, 

300Hz, and 300Hz, respectively. 


tic-dome tweeter with a more refined 

unit, upgrading the crossover and terminals, 

magnetically shielding both 

drive-units for use in home-theater 

systems, and renaming it the Alpha 

A/V. The A/V cost $249/pair, and I 

enthusiastically reviewed it in April 

2000 (www.stereophile.com/stand 

loudspeakers/241). 

The next revision was the Alpha B, 

which kept the $249/pair price but 

upgraded the woofer to a 5 1 ⁄4" 

polypropylene-cone unit very similar 

to that used in PSB’s more expensive 

Image line. The tweeter was also 

upgraded, to an aluminum-dome unit 

recessed within a short flare and protected 

by a plastic “phase plate.” In his 

May 2002 review (www.stereophile. 

com/standloudspeakers/580), Bob 

Reina wrote that the PSB Alpha B was 

a classic example of the benefits of 

technology trickled down from a serious 

high-end speaker design. “Consid- 


nitely a small speaker; however, the clean, well-damped 

nature of its bass alignment will allow it to be used relatively 

close to room boundaries, to get some low-frequency 

reinforcement. 

Higher in frequency in fig.3, the Alpha B1’s response on 

its tweeter axis in the midrange and treble is superbly flat 

and even. Yes, there are very slight peaks between 1 and 

2kHz and at 10kHz—the latter probably due to the effect 

of the grille—and there is a narrow suckout at the crossover 

frequency, but overall, this kind of performance 

would be commendable in an expensive speaker, let 

alone one that costs just $279/pair. 

I did find the PSB’s presentation to be occasionally a 

touch bright, and this is not explained by the trace in fig.3. 

However, the speaker’s horizontal radiation pattern (fig.4) 

does show a slight off-axis flare at the base of the tweeter’s 

passband that might well have contributed to my feeling. 

The speaker’s 3 ⁄4" tweeter maintains its top-octave out- 

Fig.4 PSB Alpha B1, lateral response family at 50", normalized to response 

on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 90–5° off 

axis, reference response, differences in response 5–90° off axis. 

ering again the quality of construction 

and sound of these remarkable little 

boxes and checking the price yet 

again,” he wrote, “I’m still shaking my 

head [at the fact that] this speaker doesn’t 

cost $250 apiece but $250 per pair.” 

The Alpha B1 

The latest version of the Alpha, the B1, 

has suffered a price rise, to $279/pair, 

but this is actually lower in real terms 

than the original Alpha’s $200/pair 

price in 1992 dollars. Like the B, the B1 

has molded plastic front and rear baffles, 

each with internal ribs to add rigidity, 

connected by an MDF “sleeve.” It combines 

a 5 1 ⁄4", injection-molded, 

polypropylene-cone woofer with a ferrofluid-cooled, 

aluminum-dome tweeter. 

The latter is now a 3 ⁄4" unit rather 

than a 1", for better top-octave dispersion, 

and the woofer cone has an attractive 

metalized finish. Both units are 

bolted to the baffle with wood screws 

and rabbeted into the front baffle. This, 

of course, is easy to arrange when the 

baffle is molded plastic rather than the 

necessary recesses having to be routed 

into a wooden baffle. The cabinet volume 

has been increased by, I believe, 

10% compared with the Alpha B, and 

there is now a faint front-to-back convex 

“bow” to the top, bottom, and side 

panels. (Small stick-on pads add stability 

when the speaker is placed on a stand.) 

The rear-facing port at the top of the 

rear panel has a gently radiused exit at 

both ends, to reduce turbulence and 

wind noise. 

The crossover is specified as lying at 

3kHz, with third-order slopes. The sixelement 

crossover—two air-cored 

inductors, one ferrite-cored inductor, 

one resistor, and two electrolytic capacitors—is 

mounted on a small board 

attached to the inside of the rear panel 

just above the inset five-way binding 

posts. The cabinet—it must be a vinyl 

put to the sides to a greater degree than would a 1" unit. 

Fig.5 PSB Alpha B1, vertical response family at 50", normalized to response 

on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 45–5° 

above axis, reference response, differences in response 5–45° below 

axis. 

Fig.6 PSB Alpha B1, spatially averaged, 1 ⁄6-octave response in JA’s listening 

room. 


finish at this price, but it sure looks like 

veneer—is not internally braced, but 

there is a filling of acrylic fiber. In a 

departure from earlier Alphas, the B1’s 

grille, a fine metal-mesh type with a 

thin layer of gauze on its inner surface, 

is removable, revealing some attractivelooking 

dimpling of the front baffle 

around the tweeter. Once it is 

removed, however, the grille is tricky 

to wrestle back into place. 

Sound quality 

I did all my auditioning with the Alpha 

B1’s grilles in place, the sound getting a 

little too bright otherwise. The speakers 

sat on 24" Celestion SL stands, the 

central pillars of which were filled with 

dry sand and lead shot. In addition to 

the synthetic rubber pads front and 

back, I further damped the interface 

between the cabinet’s base and the 

stand’s top panel with thin strips of 

Blu-Tack. The stands put my ears level 

PSB ALPHA B1 

In the vertical plane (fig.5), a deep suckout centered on 

3.4kHz develops more than 5° above or 10° below the 

tweeter axis, suggesting that sufficiently high stands be 

used to place the Alpha B1’s tweeters level with the listener’s 

ears. 

Fig.6 shows the Alpha B1’s in-room response, plotted 

with 1 ⁄6-octave resolution and averaged across a rectangular 

grid centered on the position of my ears. The small 

peaks and dips in the lower midrange are room effects 

that have not been completely eliminated by the spatial 

averaging. But other than that, the Alpha B1’s in-room 

response smoothly and gently slopes down from the middle 

of the midrange to the top of the audioband in an 

almost perfect depiction of how a speaker needs to 

behave. Almost, because there is slight hint of there being 

too much energy in the presence region, which would 

give the speaker a slightly bright presentation, though this 

Fig.7 PSB Alpha B1, step response on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms time 

window, 30kHz bandwidth). 

JOHN ATKINSON 

With its grille removed, PSB’s Alpha B1 shows off 

its molded baffle. 

with the tweeters, and pink noise 

sounded smooth on that axis. When I 

stood up, however, the speaker’s balance 

sounded a bit hollow. The B1s 

ended up in positions that had worked 

for the Harbeth and Stirling minimonitors 

that I wrote about last month, but 

tucked somewhat closer to the sidewalls 

to get a little more boundary 

reinforcement at low frequencies. 

Nevertheless, the Alpha is still a small 

speaker with a small woofer, and you 

can’t expect thunderous bass from it. 

But it gave a usefully high output down 

to the 63Hz 1 ⁄3-octave band on my Editor’s 

Choice CD (Stereophile STPH016- 

2), and there was still some audible output, 

aided by a room mode, in the 32Hz 

band. The organ pedals in the finale of 

Elgar’s Enigma Variations, with George 

Hurst conducting the Bournemouth 

Symphony Orchestra (Naxos 

8.553564), were still faintly audible, and 

the speakers made a brave attempt at 

would also bring a benefit: recorded detail would be 

accentuated. The low frequencies extend in-room to the 

80Hz band at almost full level, but roll off below that 

region. My room, unfortunately, does not give small 

speakers much in the way of boundary reinforcement. 

In the time domain, the Alpha’s step response (fig.7) 

indicates that both of the speaker’s drive-units are connected 

in positive acoustic polarity, with the short, sharp 

step of the tweeter smoothly handing over to that of the 

woofer. The PSB’s cumulative spectral-decay plot (fig.8) is 

perhaps the only graph that indicates any compromises 

due to the speaker’s low price, in that the decay of the 

impulse is marred by some low-level resonant modes 

throughout the treble. 

Overall, however, this is superb measured performance 

for such an affordable speaker, and demonstrates that 

some excellent engineering has gone into its design. 

—John Atkinson 

Fig.8 PSB Alpha B1, cumulative spectral-decay plot at 50" (0.15ms 

risetime). 


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eproducing the rolled bass drum at the 

very end of the work. Similarly, the 

combination of bass-trombone pedal 

tones and bass-drum punctuations in 

Elgar’s In the South overture on the same 

CD was reproduced with bravado, as 

long as I kept a wary eye on the Ayre K- 

5xe preamp’s volume control. 

Perhaps more important, while I had 

thought that the low frequencies of earlier 

Alphas were a bit lacking when it came 

to clearly defined leading edges, even 

when hung on the end of the mighty 

Mark Levinson No.33H monoblocks, 

the B1’s bass was very clean and clear, 

other than at very high volumes. 

I recorded Attention Screen, Bob 

Reina’s jazz fusion group, live at Manhattan’s 

Merkin Hall in February, and 

used the Alpha B1s as monitors while I 

prepared rough mixes of the eight 

improvisations for the musicians to listen 

to. I had used an AKG D112 mike for 

Mark Flynn’s kick drum, which tends 

to accentuate the boom of the drum’s 

sound when placed close to the front 

skin. Even so, with the 24-bit, 

88.2kHz-sampled files played back 

from DVD over the PSBs, the kick 

drum sounded well defined while the 

speaker’s lack of low-bass extension 

didn’t detract from the body of the 

tone, which is rich in upper-bass content. 

Similarly, the sound of Chris 

Jones’ fretless Fender Jazz bass guitar, 

which I had recorded direct as well as 

with a distant pair of mikes, had a satisfying 

combination of “pat” and “purr.” 

There was a degree of blur, a lack of 

clarity, at the lower boundary of the 

midrange, revealed by listening to the 

half-step–spaced tonebursts on Editor’s 

Choice (track 19). In general, these 

bursts “spoke” very cleanly—with some 

aberrant speakers, you hear a descending 

series of “wolf tones” overlaying 

the ascending tonebursts—but there 

was some cabinet liveliness apparent 

between 130Hz and 200Hz, as well as 

at an octave above middle C. 

At the other end of the spectrum, 

even though there appeared to be plenty 

of high-frequency energy, such 

instruments as triangle and cymbals 

having the appropriate degree of 

sparkle, the Alpha’s top end sounded 

slightly softened overall compared, for 

example, with the Stirling LS3/5a V2. 

As a result, the top end of such chromium-plated 

recordings as the JVC 

XRCD 24 reissue of Britten’s The Young 

Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, with the 

composer conducting the English 

PSB ALPHA B1 

Chamber Orchestra in 1963 in London’s 

Kingsway Hall (JVC 93692 0226-2), 

actually sounded sweet. This was not 

unpleasant, but neither was it strictly 

accurate. Paradoxically, however, there 

was also a slight emphasis of recorded 

sibilance and an occasional touch of 

brightness evident in the mid-treble. 

Perhaps the only clue to the engineering 

compromises mandated by the 

Alpha B1’s very affordable price—other 

than limited loudness capability and 

low-frequency extension and power 

handling, of course—was the rather 

WHEN HUNG ON THE END OF THE MIGHTY MARK 

LEVINSON NO.33H MONOBLOCKS, THE B1’S BASS 

WAS VERY CLEAN AND CLEAR, OTHER THAN AT VERY 

HIGH VOLUMES. 


DIGITAL SOURCES Classé cdp-202 

DVD/CD player, Ayre C-5xe universal 

player; Mark Levinson No.30.6, 

Benchmark DAC 1 D/A processors; 

Slim Devices Squeezebox WiFi music 

player with Apple Mac mini running 

OSX for media storage. 

PREAMPLIFIERS Mark Levinson 

No.326S, Audio Research Reference 

3, Ayre K-5xe. 

POWER AMPLIFIERS Mark Levinson 

No.33H monoblocks, Halcro 

dm38. 

LOUDSPEAKERS Stirling LS3/5a V2, 

Harbeth HL-P3ES-2, Rogers LS3/5a. 

CABLES Digital: Kimber Illuminations 

Orchid AES/EBU, AudioQuest 

OptiLink-5 S/PDIF. Interconnect (balanced): 

AudioQuest Cheetah, Madrigal 

CZ Gel-1, Ayre Signature Series, 

Crystalconnect. Speaker: AudioQuest 

Kilimanjaro. AC: PS Audio Lab, Shunyata 

Research Anaconda Helix Alpha, 

manufacturers’ own. 

ACCESSORIES Target TT-5 equipment 

racks; Ayre Myrtle Blocks; ASC 

Tube Traps, RPG Abffusor panels; PS 

Audio Power Plant 300 at 90Hz (disc 

players only), Audio Power Industries 

116 Mk.II & PE-1, APC S-15 AC line 

conditioners (not power amps). AC 

power comes from two dedicated 

20A circuits, each just 6’ from the 

breaker box, a Mark Levinson 

No.33H plugged into each. 


veiled quality of its high frequencies. 

This wasn’t due to a lack of energy in the 

top two octaves, but more a feeling that a 

faint veil was obscuring musical detail. 

The midrange was where the Alpha 

B1 excelled. The tone colors of all the 

individual instruments on the Britten 

recording were reproduced accurately, 

and naturally recorded piano—for example, 

Robert Silverman performing 

Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations (CD, 

Stereophile STPH017-2)—sounded very 

natural, other than for a reduction in the 

scale of the instrument, of course. 

And singers sounded simply superb. 

A recent recommendation from Musical 

Fidelity’s Antony Michaelson was Gundula 

Janowitz singing Richard Strauss’s 

Four Last Songs with the Berlin Philharmonic 

under Karajan (CD, Deutsche 

Grammophon 447 422-2). Some think 

that Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, with the 

RSO-Berlin under George Szell (CD, 

EMI CDC 7 47276 2), is unbeatable in 

this work, but through the PSBs, 

Janowitz’s smaller but silkier tones floated 

free of the dark-toned, gloriously rich 

orchestral accompaniment—again provided 

I didn’t play the music too loud, 

when the presentation rapidly became 

congested in the lower mids. The 1965 

EMI sound, however, is considerably 

more spacious, with a wider, deeper 

soundstage than DG’s engineers managed 

almost a decade later, something 

that, again, the PSBs laid bare. And why 

couldn’t the DG team have resisted the 

temptation to make the solo violin in the 

third song as big as the voice? 

The stereo imaging produced by the 

Alpha B1s was stable, with reasonably 

good soundstage depth. But lateral precision 

was not in the same class as the Harbeths’ 

or Stirlings’, individual images 

being broader. And on the Gundula 

Janowitz CD, her voice was presented 

above the plane of the speakers, generally 

a sign that some upper-midrange 

response anomaly is being misinterpreted 

by the ear/brain as height information. 


I think the thing that most surprised 

me about the Alpha B1 is how much 

orchestral music I ended up playing while 

the speakers were in my system. I have 

long been a believer in the idea that the 

loudspeaker you choose dictates what 

music you listen to. Whether consciously 

or subconsciously, you choose recordings 

that benefit from a speaker’s strengths and 

don’t shine too much of a light on its 

shortcomings. As I write these words, I 

am working my way through Kurt 

Sanderling’s 1972 traversal of the four 

Brahms symphonies with the Dresden 

Staatskapelle (CD, BMG Classics 69220- 

2), which has been a favorite of mine 

since I bought it on LP in the late 1970s, 

again on the recommendation of Antony 

Michaelson. Via the unassuming Alphas, 

all of Brahms’ characteristic touches were 

readily apparent: the “big” tunes, such as 

in the Beethovenian fourth movement of 

Symphony 1 and the first movement of 

Symphony 2; the hushed mystery of the 

slow movements; the sweet mix of pathos 

and Viennese sugar of the scherzos in 

Symphonies 1–3; the bombastic scherzo 

of Symphony 4; the declarative opening 

of Symphony 3. It’s as if Richard Wagner 

had never been born! 

But if you are a classical-music lover 

with a small room and an equally small 

budget, a pair of PSB’s Alpha B1s is 

just what you need. 

Summing up 

It might seem craziness to use a 

$279/pair of speakers in a system costing 

more than 200 times as much. In my 

defense, I flick through my wellthumbed 

copy of J. Gordon Holt’s Really 

Reliable Rules for Rookie Reviewers, to 

p.634, where it states: “The reviewer 

shall not change more than one variable 

at a time in his system.” By using the 

Alpha B1s in a context where everything 

else was intimately familiar, I would be 

able to unambiguously describe what I 

heard the speakers doing. But more significant, 

the little PSB didn’t disgrace 

itself in such exalted company, doing 

(within its dynamic limits) much of 

what I need from a speaker at any price. 

I very much enjoyed my time with 

this unassuming but attractive-looking 

little speaker. Considering its price, the 

PSB Alpha B1 is quite extraordinary in 

its way. Even if not in the market for a 

cheap mini, audiophiles should buy 

them for their Bose-owning friends 

and family, to give those unfortunates 

more than a taste of what a true highend 

loudspeaker is capable of. ■■ 


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DESCRIPTION Three-way, dual-ported, 

floorstanding loudspeaker. Driveunits: 

1" non–ferrofluid-cooled, softdome 

tweeter; 5" plastic-cone 

midrange unit; two 9" plastic-cone 

woofers. Crossover frequencies: 

200Hz, 4800Hz. Frequency response: 

20Hz–45kHz, –3dB. Sensitivity: 

94dB/W/m. Nominal Impedance: 7 

ohms. 

DIMENSIONS 44.5" (1140mm) H 

by 11.8" (300mm) W by 21.5" 

(550mm) D. Weight: 188 lbs 

(85.5kg). 

FINISH Italian Walnut. 

SERIAL NUMBERS OF UNITS 

REVIEWED 5150A, 5150B. 

PRICE $65,000/pair. Approximate 

number of dealers: 6. 

MANUFACTURER Peak Consult, Langelandsvej 

12, DK-5500 Middelfart, 

Denmark. Tel: (45) 64-400-580. Fax: 

(45) 64-400-680. Web: www.peakconsult.dk. 

US distributor: Signals 

SuperFi, LLC, Atlanta, GA 30318. Tel: 

(678) 528-8077. Fax: (678) 884- 

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Peak Consult 

El Diablo 

LOUDSPEAKER 

Peak Consult El Diablo 

The devil’s in the details, so here’s one detail you should know going in: 

The El Diablo, a deceptively modest-looking, casket-like, compact, 

three-way loudspeaker from Danish firm Peak Consult, will cost you a 

penny less than $65,000/pair. Why? Yes, the dollar’s continued slide has 

alarmingly driven up the price of imported audio gear, but even so… 

The Details 

Though it’s only 44.5" tall, 11.8" wide, and 21.5" deep, the Diablo weighs a hefty 

188 lbs. Clearly, a great deal of something has been packed into its relatively small 

cabinet, and it’s not lead. 

The hand-built enclosure is a glued sandwich of various thicknesses (1.5–3") of 

high-density fiberboard (HDF), with specially designed resonance suppressors at 

key spots. Encasing that is a 1"-thick skin of solid, hand-selected Italian walnut. 

Despite the speaker’s outwardly rectangular shape, no two of its interior walls are 

parallel, to avoid standing waves. This is one well-put-together cabinet that I feel 

absolutely confident will pass John Atkinson’s accelerometer test with ease. 

The front baffle’s slant and back-tilt are said to align both the phase and the arrival 

times of the outputs of the tweeter, midrange, and woofers. Though often promised 

by speaker makers, this is rarely delivered—as anyone who pays attention to JA’s 


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“Measurements” sections knows. 

Adding to the Diablo’s weight are its 

top-shelf drivers. The 1" tweeter, made 

by ScanSpeak (another Danish company), 

is a low-compression design that 

does without ferrofluid cooling or a 

phase plug. It has an neodymium 

motor, and its nonresonant backwave 

chamber and machined faceplate are 

both made of aluminum. 

The 5" midrange unit and two 9" 

woofers (which feature “huge” magnets, 

per Peak Consult) are custombuilt 

to the designer’s specifications by 

AudioTechnology, yet another Danish 

MEASUREMENTS 

PEAK CONSULT EL DIABLO 

Although Peak Consult claims a very high sensitivity 

of 94dB for the Diablo, my estimate of the 

speaker’s sensitivity was somewhat lower, at just 

under 90dB(B)/2.83V/m. This is still usefully 

higher than average, however. Its impedance (fig.1) resembles 

a 4–5 ohm resistor over much of the audioband, with 

a very small electrical phase angle, though this is significantly 

lower than the 7 ohms specified. There is a combination 

of 3.8 ohms magnitude and –34° capacitive phase 

angle at 27Hz, but given the low frequency, where music 

will rarely have high energy, this will not give rise to any 

current-delivery problems with good amplifiers. 

The traces in fig.1 are free from any of the small wrinkles 

that would indicate the presence of cabinet resonance 

problems, and indeed, investigating the panels’ vibrational 

behavior, I found almost nothing of interest. Fig.2, for 

example, is a cumulative spectral-decay plot calculated 

from the output of a simple accelerometer fastened to the 

cabinet sidewall level with the midrange drive-unit. Only 

two modes can be seen, and even the lower one, at 

480Hz, is high enough in frequency and low enough in 

level to be subjectively irrelevant. 

The small saddle centered on 32Hz in the impedancemagnitude 

plot indicates that this is the tuning frequency 

of the two large-diameter ports on the Diablo’s rear panel. 

The ports appear to behave very similarly; the red trace in 

Fig.1 Peak Consult El Diablo, electrical impedance (solid) and phase 

(dashed). (2 ohms/vertical div.) 

company, which was cofounded by 

Ejvind Skaaning (and his son), who also 

founded Vifa/ScanSpeak and Dynaudio. 

AT drivers are used by Rockport 

Technologies and Sonus Faber, among 

other brands that don’t blush at selling 

expensive loudspeakers. 

The Diablo’s second-order crossovers, 

set at 200Hz and 4.8kHz, are 

hardwired with silver solder and use 

cost-no-object electrical components 

chosen for their sonic characteristics. 

The network is sealed at the cabinet 

bottom to eliminate microphonics and 

to shield it from electrical and magnet- 

ic radiation. Internal wiring is from 

Stereovox, an American company 

owned by Peak Consult importer Signals 

SuperFi. The biwire terminals 

comprise two pairs of WBT Platinum 

Signature binding posts. 

Designer Per Kristoffersen claims 

the Diablo is easy to drive, with a gentle, 

low-current-drawing phase angle, a 

sensitivity of 94dB/W/m, and a load 

of close to 7 ohms across its entire 

claimed in-room response of 

20Hz–45kHz, –3dB. 

Clearly, its build and parts qualities 

are high, but to really appreciate the 

fig.3 is the sum of their outputs, scaled with respect to the 

outputs of the woofers (blue trace) and midrange unit 

(green) in the ratio of the square root of the radiating 

areas. The ports’ output does indeed peak in the region of 

30Hz, though the corresponding minimum-motion notch 

in the summed woofer output (where the back pressure 

from the port resonance holds the woofer cones stationary) 

occurs a little higher in frequency, at 34Hz. Of more 

Fig.2 Peak Consult El Diablo, cumulative spectral-decay plot calculated 

from the output of an accelerometer fastened to the cabinet’s side 

panel level with the midrange unit (MLS driving voltage to speaker, 

7.55V; measurement bandwidth, 2kHz). 

Fig.3 Peak Consult El Diablo, anechoic response on tweeter axis at 50", 

averaged across 30° horizontal window and corrected for 

microphone response, with the nearfield responses of the midrange 

unit (green), ports (blue), and woofers (red) plotted below 1kHz, 

1kHz, and 2kHz, respectively, along with their complex sum plotted 

below 300Hz (black). 


Diablo’s workmanship and exquisite 

finish—and its price—you need to see it 

close up and run your hands across the 

stunning woodwork. Photos just don’t 

do it justice. With its leather-clad front 

and rear panels, its cravat-shaped 

mid/tweeter grille cover (which I left 

off for my auditioning), and its angled 

front baffle, the Diablo shares some of 

its appearance with speakers from 

other brands. But while it lacks the 

visual allure of, say, the Sonus Faber 

Stradivari Homage, and some other 

dramatically sculpted speakers, not 

everyone, especially of the wifely variety—I’m 

a realist, not a sexist—is looking 

to make a loudspeaker fashion 

statement in the living room. The Dia- 


concern is the high-Q peak seen at 480Hz in the ports’ 

response, coincidentally the frequency of the panel vibrational 

resonance seen in fig.2. This might be high enough 

in level to lead to coloration, though working against its 

audibility will be the fact that the ports face away from the 

listener. I was bothered by a slight “cupped hands” coloration 

in the midrange when I auditioned the Diablos in 

Mikey’s room. Perhaps I was hearing this port behavior. 

The woofers (fig.3, blue trace) cross over to the 

midrange unit at around 300Hz, and are well behaved 

above their passband, rolling off with what appears to be a 

12dB/octave slope. The Diablo extends quite low in frequency: 

–6dB at 30Hz in this graph (the slight boost 

between 45 and 400Hz is probably due to the nearfield 

measurement technique). The midrange rolls in with a 

shallow slope and has a shallow suckout in its farfield output 

around 1200Hz. The overall response is otherwise 

smooth and even through the bass and midrange, up to 

the crossover to the tweeter, where there is a sharp discontinuity 

in the speaker’s output followed by a slightly 

shelved-down high treble. As MF noted in his auditioning, 

El Diablo’s “personality” is on the slightly mellow side, 

which I also felt to be the case. 

Michael mentions the danger of taking a relatively large- 

Fig.4 Peak Consult El Diablo, lateral-response family at 50", normalized to 

response on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 

90–5° off axis, reference response, differences in response 5–90° off 

axis. 

blo can blend in like the finely finished 

piece of furniture that it is, and its size 

and footprint would seem to make it 

an ideal candidate for the city sophisticate’s 

drawing room. 

Setup 

Positioning the Diablos was easy. They 

sounded best in my room where 

almost every other pair of speakers has: 

where RPG’s computer program said 

they would, based on the room’s 

dimensions and the physics of wave 

propagation. And I sat where I always 

do: where the program tells me to, 

about 11' from the front wall and 8' 

from the speakers. 

RPG’s program takes into account 

the height, size, and location (front, 

side, or rear) of a speaker’s woofer(s). 

While variations in these factors will 

affect the results to a small degree, 

there’s been a remarkable consistency 

of speaker positions throughout the 

years I’ve used the program to review 

speakers in this room. Almost all of 

them, El Diablos included, end up 

about 9' apart, a bit more than 2' from 

the front wall, and toed-in, with the 

corners of their rear baffles about 3' 

from the sidewalls. The Diablos sounded 

best with their tweeters firing 

directly on axis. 

Listening 

The understated and meticulous sensi- 

diameter midrange unit too high in frequency, mainly due 

to the fact that it will “beam” where its diameter approaches 

the wavelengths of the frequencies it is emitting. Yet 

looking at Peak Consult’s plot of lateral dispersion (fig.4), it 

can be seen that the Diablo’s output off axis is relatively 

uniform below 3kHz. However, there is a distinct step in its 

radiation pattern just above 3kHz, and it’s possible that 

Fig.5 Peak Consult El Diablo, vertical-response family at 50", normalized to 

response on tweeter axis, from back to front: differences in response 

15–5° above axis, reference response, differences in response 5–10° 

below axis. 

Fig.6 Peak Consult El Diablo, spatially averaged, 1 ⁄6-octave response in MF’s 

listening room. 


ility informing the Diablo’s appearance 

has also been applied to its sound. And 

like my first look, my first listen to 

them, with the importer in the room, 

was definitely underwhelming. Going 

directly from the Wilson Audio MAXX 

Series 2s to the Diablos was like going 

from fluorescent bulbs to candles—or, to 

be less subject to misinterpretation, like 

stepping out of a Ferrari and into a highperformance 

Bentley coupe. It took me 

some time to appreciate what the Diablo 

could do. While definitely full of 

surprises, it drew me in rather than 

bowled me over—but it was never 

“polite” or “reserved.” 

The Diablos produced a stable, 

exceptionally well-proportioned, clear- 


this, rather than the port resonance, is responsible for the 

slight coloration I heard. The tweeter is slightly more directional 

in its passband than is usual for a 1" dome, which 

will add to the speaker’s mellow character in all but very 

small rooms. 

In the vertical plane (fig.5), the Diablo has a sharp suckout 

centered on 5.6kHz for the listening axis above the 

tweeter, which suggests that the actual crossover between 

the midrange unit and tweeter occurs here rather than at 

the specified 4.8kHz. To provide the flattest perceived treble 

balance, the Diablos should be auditioned with the listener’s 

ears on a level between the tweeter and the 

midrange unit. Fig.6 is the Diablo’s in-room response, 

averaged across a grid centered on the position of MF’s 

ears in his listening chair. Other than residual room effects 

that have not been eliminated by the spatial averaging, 

the pair of speakers produce a remarkably even and 

smooth balance at the listening seat from the upper bass 

through the mid-treble. The region covered by the tweeter 

definitely shelves down more than would be expected 

from the usual increase in the room’s sound absorption in 

this region. 

In the time domain, the Diablo’s step response on the 

Fig.7 Peak Consult El Diablo, step response on tweeter axis at 50" (5ms 

time window, 30kHz bandwidth). 

ly defined, and especially tactile aural 

picture, and excelled at re-creating 

front-to-back depth in great relief. The 

front of the stage developed well in 

front of the speaker baffles, and rearwall 

information from familiar live 

recordings appeared from what 

seemed like the side yard, beyond the 

walls of my listening room. If you’re 

into imaging and soundstaging, the 

Diablos won’t disappoint. In fact, they 

may redefine those terms for you in 

terms of bubble-like cohesiveness, if 

not in terms of grandiosity. 

The Diablos’ image specificity 

rivaled that of the Vandersteen Quattros, 

which is about as good as I’ve 

heard. Stage height was somewhat 

restricted compared to what I’ve 

grown used to from the MAXX 2s, 

producing, with symphonic recordings, 

a sensation of listening from the 

lower balcony rather than from the 

main floor—an adjustment easy for the 

ear to make. Most important, the picture 

never appeared to be generated 

from the baffle surfaces. 

Every loudspeaker has an overall 

character and specific colorations, and 

some are easier to identify than others. 

In my experience, the best speakers try 

to maintain that character throughout 

the audioband in order to provide a 

seamless illusion of musical reality. For 

instance, you wouldn’t want to mate a 

sparkly tweeter with an underdamped, 

tweeter axis (fig.7) indicates that its tweeter and woofers 

are connected in positive acoustic polarity, its midrange 

unit in inverted polarity, this confirmed by looking at the 

step responses of the individual units (not shown). However, 

the fact that the step of each driver smoothly hands over 

to that of the next lower in frequency correlates with the 

good frequency-domain integration seen in fig.3. The relatively 

small height of the tweeter’s step (the initial spike in 

fig.7) ties in with this unit’s more than usually restricted 

bandwidth. 

The Peak Consult’s farfield cumulative spectral-decay 

plot (fig.8) is generally clean, but is marred by a ridge of 

delayed energy at the frequency of the on-axis response 

discontinuity. This is probably a cone phenomenon in the 

midrange unit, and could also be associated with the slight 

“cupped hands” coloration MF and I noted in our auditioning, 

though it is fair to point out that he felt this could be 

accommodated to relatively quickly. 

The Peak Consult El Diablo’s measured performance is 

very respectable, though its balance appears to have been 

tailored to achieve a specific end result. It also looks dropdead 

gorgeous. —John Atkinson 

Fig.8 Peak Consult El Diablo, cumulative spectral-decay plot at 50" (0.15ms 

risetime). 


oomy woofer. Conversely, you 

wouldn’t want to pair a silky-sounding 

ribbon tweeter with an overdamped, 

lean-sounding woofer. 

Per Kristoffersen has effectively 

matched the tweeter’s character—pleasingly 

airy, somewhat soft and forgiving 

yet finely detailed—with the woofers’ 

by slightly underdamping the latters’ 

tuning. But that’s not to suggest that 

the Diablo’s top is dull or muted, or 

that its bass is slow, woolly, or sloppy. 

The Diablo was extended and supple 

at both frequency extremes, providing 

exceptionally natural instrumental textures 

that were free of edge, brightness, 

or grain on top without sounding dull 

or uninvolving, while the low frequencies 

were sufficiently well controlled to 

sound nimble and firm but never 

thumpy. The extension into the low 

bass from the two 9" woofers was 

deep, full, and satisfying. 

When the Diablo was called on to 

deliver the low organ-pedal notes in 

the second movement of Saint-Saëns’ 

Symphony 3, from a 1987 LP with 

Marek Janowski conducting the 

Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra 

(Harmonia Mundi HMC 5197), 

those notes appeared as very deep, 

distant, well-controlled, compacted 

thunder—just as they had earlier that 

same evening, during a live performance 

at Avery Fisher Hall. Never 

mind that Avery Fisher doesn’t have 

an organ, and that those notes were 

generated electronically via a pair of 

tractor-trailer–sized subwoofers 

placed against the back of the stage. 

The pedal notes on the Janowski 

recording had authority, weight, and a 

velvety texture that avoided sounding 

canned or one-notey, or even as if 

they were emanating from the speakers. 

Low bass may be omnidirectional, 

but some speakers that go very low 

also produce an audible mechanical 

backlash that is directional. The Diablo 

didn’t. 

The Diablo handled electric and 

acoustic bass equally well, convincingly 

reproducing both the harder attack 

of the former and the softer attack of 

the latter. Lovers of hard rock and 

orchestral music will be thrilled with 

the Diablo’s low-frequency performance 

in terms of both extension and 

dynamics. With live recordings taped 

in large venues, the pair of them easily 

produced an illusion of enormous 

space. The speakers’ response was subjectively 

smooth, and extended down 


into the 30Hz region in my room. The 

Diablo didn’t produce the Wilson 

MAXX 2’s slam, but that would not 

have meshed with the rest of the speaker’s 

sonic personality. 

Kristoffersen asks the Diablo’s 5" 

midrange driver to handle an unusually 

wide bandwidth: 200Hz all the way 

up to 4800Hz, or 2kHz higher than in 

most two- and three-way designs, 

which usually cross over at 2.7kHz or 

so. The advantages of extending the 

midrange’s bandwidth so high are 

tonal and phase continuity in a critical 

musical frequency range. For instance, 

fundamental violin frequencies range 

from just below 200Hz up to just 

above 3.1kHz, and a concert grand 

piano is capable of fundamentals from 

around 28Hz up to almost 4.2kHz. 

The overtones, of course, go much 

higher, but having a single driver 

reproduce the key instrumental funda- 


ANALOG SOURCES Continuum 

Audio Labs Caliburn turntable; Continuum 

Cobra, Graham Phantom, 

Kuzma Airline tonearms; Lyra Titan i, 

Air Tight PC-1, EMT Jubilee JSD 5, 

Transfiguration cartridges. 

DIGITAL SOURCES Musical Fidelity 

kW DM25 DAC & transport, BPTmodified 

Alesis Masterlink hard-disk 

recorder. 

PREAMPLIFICATION Manley Steelhead, 

Blue Amp MC 42 phono preamplifiers; 

Musical Fidelity kWP, 

DartZeel NHB-18NS preamplifiers. 

POWER AMPLIFIERS Musical Fidelity 

kW monoblocks, Music Reference 

RM-200. 

LOUDSPEAKERS Wilson Audio Specialties 

MAXX Series 2. 

CABLES Interconnect: TARA Labs 

Zero, Shunyata Research Antares 

Helix. Speaker: TARA Labs Omega, 

Stereovox LSP-600. AC: Shunyata 

Research Anaconda Helix, JPS AC. 

ACCESSORIES Continuum Audio 

Labs Castellon magnetic isolation 

stand, Finite Elemente Pagode 

equipment stands, Symposium 

Rollerblocks; Audiodharma Cable 

Cooker; Shunyata Research V-RAY 

Reference, Hydra 8 power conditioners; 

Oyaide AC wall jacks; ASC Tube 

Traps, RPG BAD & Abffusor panels; 

Furutech DeMag’ Loricraft CD and LP 

demagnetizer, VPI record-cleaning 

machines. —Michael Fremer 

mentals, in addition to many of the 

resulting harmonics, should result in a 

strong sense of musical continuity. 

Indeed, I found that just such a continuity 

was one of the Diablo’s key 

strengths. It gushed forth a sense of 

smooth musical flow while suppressing 

the discontinuities that afflict some 

multi-driver designs. 

But in any speaker, piling so much 

on the midrange driver’s plate will 

result in tradeoffs. One of these is that, 

as the frequencies reproduced by the 

cone rise, so does its directivity, which 

leads to “beaming” at the higher frequencies 

within the driver’s bandpass. 

As the frequencies rise, the amount of 

cone area used to reproduce those frequencies 

decreases and becomes concentrated 

toward its recessed center, 

where it attaches to the voice-coil. 

However, rather than being heard as 

excessive brightness, the result is usually 

an overly polite sound—the driver 

can’t produce enough off-axis output at 

the higher frequencies to provide adequate 

frequency and power response to 

fill the room. 

Another potential problem created 

by extending a relatively large cone’s 

response is the nonlinearity caused by 

the cone’s flexure. However, the Diablo’s 

smoothness leads me to suspect 

that AudioTechnology’s expertise has 

tackled that problem, just as Peak Consult’s 

Per Kristoffersen has successfully 

navigated the off-axis response issue. 

Which is not to say that Kristofferson’s 

choice was inaudible. The Diablo 

had a slightly mellow overall sound, 

with less sparkle and life than some 

might wish, as well as a very slight, easily 

ignored coloration that I heard as 

just a touch of compression or congestion—what 

JA likes to call “hootiness”— 

in the upper mids and lower treble. In 

fact, this was the first thing I heard 

when the Diablos were first fired up in 

my room—but, as it has with all great 

speakers, my ear/brain system quickly 

made peace with this coloration, which 

quickly blended into the musical flow 

and disappeared. (And if you think your 

favorite speaker is without colorations, 

think again.) 

When I encountered—in an enormous 

room—another pair of El Diablos 

at the 2007 Consumer Electronics 

Show, I immediately heard that same 

minor coloration. Yet despite the 

venue’s size, which should have exacerbated 

the off-axis response problem, 

those Diablos sounded remarkably 


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similar to the pair in my listening room 

at home. 

However, despite what I believe JA’s 

measurements will reveal about its 

slightly mellow character, the Diablo’s 

overall presentation never seemed 

starved for air, and never sounded soft, 

bland, or boring—nor, of course, did it 

ever sound bright, etchy, grainy, or 

harsh, unless the recording itself was 

grossly so. Trumpets, flutes, xylophones, 

and brass all sounded sufficiently 

airy and metallic. Cymbals rang 

convincingly, and overall, throughout 

the months I listened to the Diablos, I 

wanted for nothing in terms of highfrequency 

or transient response. 

But most important, and perhaps 

because of that high crossover frequency, 

instrumental harmonic structures, and 

especially the human voice, were 

exceptionally lifelike and coherent. I 

can’t think of a loudspeaker that better 

reproduces instrumental and vocal 

touches and textures. I could consistently 

rely on the Diablos to provide 

long evenings’ worth of entertainment 

without producing boredom or fatigue. 

They always invited me in and never 

pushed me away. 

The Diablo’s tonal balance was as 

self-effacing as its looks and, on closer 

inspection, equally and understatedly 

spectacular. The speaker never sounded 

too bright unless the recording was, 

nor did it sound polite—unless the 

recording was. From top to bottom, 

the Diablo never sounded mechanical, 

never showed any aural seams. The 

bass extension was deep, full, and satisfying 

without being overwhelming. 

While the overall balance was clearly 

tipped downward ever so slightly on 

top, this was never to the point that the 

Diablo sounded soft or rolled off. It 

was just slightly reserved. Some might 

wish for a more open sound, but I 

think the Diablo’s balance would be 

more welcome over the long haul. It 

was among the best-balanced loudspeakers 

I’ve heard here—its designer 

has managed to maintain a single sonic 

personality throughout the entire 

audioband. 

Unlike speakers that require high 

SPLs to work effectively, the Diablo, 

despite its slightly laid-back character, 

never failed to engage me. Even at very 

low SPLs it maintained impressive 

macrodynamic authority, sounding 

relaxed and unrestrained in my smallish 

room—like a high-powered amplifier 

just loafing along. Conversely, when 

cranked, the Diablo never sounded 

compressed, never lost its tonal or 

dynamic composure. I couldn’t come 

close to exposing its dynamic or SPL 

limitations. 

How loud will the Diablos play? 

Very, as I discovered at CES, where 

they filled a large space with ease. The 

Diablo sounded equally magnificent 

driven by Musical Fidelity’s mammoth 

kW monoblocks and by the 100Wpc 

Music Reference RM-200 tube amp. 

With the RM-200 the Diablos weren’t 

as tight or as controlled on bottom, or 

as dynamically authoritative—but at 

94dB claimed sensitivity, they still got 

plenty loud. 

Conclusion 

The Peak Consult El Diablo is a very 

large-sounding loudspeaker in a surprisingly 

small package. It’s comfortable 

playing softly or loudly in a small 

or a large room, whether reproducing 

chamber music, large orchestral pieces, 

solo voice, hard rock, metal, acoustic 

jazz, or anything else you might throw 

at it. Its highly refined, slightly mellow 

personality won’t appeal to all, but I 

suspect it will to most, regardless of 

musical tastes. 

But while very capable, the Diablo is 

very expensive at $65,000/pair. 

Although its value will be in the eye, 

ear, and wallet of the beholder, you 

may wonder why anyone would spend 

so much on a pair of speakers. Its relatively 

small footprint (for a big, bassproficient 

speaker), exquisite finish, 

and understated appearance will make 

it attractive to the wealthy, urban 

audiophile who lives in an apartment 

of small to medium size, but who 

wants big sound when he can crank it 

and convincing sound when he can’t. 

And if that well-heeled audiophile has 

a big dedicated listening room, well, no 

problem there either. 

I spent three months with the Diablos 

and found them to be among the 

most capable and musically engaging 

speakers I’ve yet auditioned. They 

could rock out and play very loud and 

gritty, and they could lie back to 

deliver delicate acoustic music with 

all the textural and tonal nuance 

needed to convincingly sell it as happening 

live—and that’s within an hour 

of my return from a concert at Avery 

Fisher Hall. ■■ 


Wes Phillips 

DESCRIPTION Universal digital disc 

player with remote control and 

upconverting video output. Formats 

supported: DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, 

CD, HDCD, SACD, DVD+/-RW, CD- 

R/RW, Certified DivX, XviD, Kodak Picture 

CD, WMA. Frequency response: 

20Hz–20kHz, ±1dB. Signal/noise 

ratio: >100dB. THD:

founded in 2004. The first product 

sold under the Oppo brand was the 

DV-971H upconverting DVD player 

($199), which became an instant hit 

with folks with hi-rez video displays. It 

was affordable, it was stylish, and it 

wowed videophiles with its superb 

video performance with both analog 

and digital displays. 

The DV-970HD doesn’t have the 

DV-971H’s Faroudja DCDi deinterlacing 

chip, but it does play SACDs, 

which is probably more important than 

its video performance to Stereophile 

readers looking for a two-channel uni- 

MEASUREMENTS 

Itested the Oppo DV-970HD from its Front L and Front 

R output jacks, with spot checks on the others. I also 

had to update the player’s firmware—an easy procedure—so 

that its front-panel display would correctly 

display SACD tracks numbered higher than 14. 

(Otherwise, the player’s onscreen display, fed to a TV 

monitor, needed to be used to play SACDs.) The player’s 

maximum output level was 2.2V RMS whether it was 

playing CDs, DVDs, or SACDs, and the player preserved 

absolute polarity (ie, was non-inverting) with all three 

media. The player’s error correction was some of the best 

I’ve ever encountered: the DV-970HD produced audible 

glitches in its output and flagged its digital output stream 

as invalid only when the gaps in the data spiral on the 

Pierre Verany test CD reached an enormous 3mm in 

length! Its output impedance was a relatively high 965 

ohms in the midrange and treble, easing slightly to 1150 

ohms at 20Hz. 

The Oppo’s frequency response playing back CDs featured 

a rise at the very top of the audioband (fig.1, top pair 

of traces at 20kHz), but this is too high in frequency and 

too small in degree to be audible. The player’s response 

did extend higher with both DVD-Audio and SACD, but 

unusually, the latter rolled off earlier than the former, 

Fig.1 Oppo DV-970HD, frequency response at –12dBFS into 100k ohms 

(from top to bottom at 30kHz): 96kHz-sampled DVD data, SACD 

data. Top traces at 20kHz: CD data (right channel dashed, 

0.5dB/vertical div.). 

versal player. That means the DV- 

970HD can play “Red Book” CD, 

HDCD, DVD-V, DVD-A, DivX, 

Kodak Picture CD, WMA, and, to 

quote Oppo’s press release, “other digital 

audio and video formats.” It does 

not, of course, play Blu-ray or HD 

DVD. For the record, the DV-970HD 

supports both the PAL and NTSC television 

systems. 

The DV-970HD seems solidly constructed. 

It’s sleek (16.5" W by 10" D 

by 1.7" H) and strikingly designed. The 

front panel has only four buttons 

(Power, Eject, Play/Pause, Stop), but it 

does include a universal flash-memory 

card reader (MS/SD/MMC/SM) and 

a USB input. The LED display supplies 

only the most basic information, which 

necessitates the use of a video display 

for setup—all setup options are displayed 

through the onscreen display 

(OSD) trees. The DV-970HD’s disc 

drawer is very slender and is overhung 

by the faceplate, which means the only 

way to extract a disc is by hooking your 

finger through its spindle hole and tilting 

the disc up toward you—no more 

awkward than with some $16,000 players 

I’ve encountered. 

reaching –6dB at 33kHz (fig.1, bottom traces above 

20kHz), compared with –6dB at 45kHz for 96kHz-sampled 

DVD data (fig.1, top traces above 20kHz). The CD playback 

response with a pre-emphasized CD was identical to that 

with a normal CD and is not shown. L–R and R–L channel 

separation were both excellent (fig.2), at >100dB below 

1kHz, though the crosstalk rose in both directions above 

that frequency, due to the usual capacitive coupling. 

Fig.2 Oppo DV-970HD, channel separation (10dB/vertical div.) 

Fig.3 Oppo DV-970HD, 1 ⁄3-octave spectrum with noise and spuriae of 

dithered 1kHz tone at –90dBFS (from top to bottom at 2kHz): 16-bit 

CD data, 24-bit DVD data, SACD data; dithered 1kHz tone at 

–110dBFS, SACD data (right channel dashed). 


The DV-970HD’s rear panel is 

packed with connectors. This, combined 

with its thin chassis, means that 

you must use skinny RCA connectors—the 

only cables I had that worked 

were Kimber KCAGs. Analog connections: 

eight RCAs (six for 5.1-channel 

output, with a “mixdown” pair for 

two-channel use). Digital connections: 

HDMI, TosLink, and coaxial S/PDIF. 

Video: component, composite, and Svideo. 

The DV-970HD doesn’t have 

an IEC AC socket (wouldn’t fit on the 

chassis), so you won’t get a chance to 

employ a power cable costing many 

OPPO DIGITAL DV-970HD 

The Oppo player produced some paradoxical results 

when I examined its resolution. The rather complicatedlooking 

graph in fig.3 shows four separate spectral analyses, 

performed by sweeping a 1 ⁄3-octave–wide bandpass filter 

down from a center frequency of 20kHz to one of 20Hz. 

The test signal for three of the sweeps was a dithered 1kHz 

tone at –90dBFS, sourced from a CD, a DVD-A, and an 

SACD. The tone peaks at the –90dBFS level in all three 

cases, but the change to the higher-resolution media 

drops the high-frequency noise floor by around 3dB rather 

than the 12–18dB I have found with top-performing players 

and DACs. This is still sufficient for the Oppo to resolve 

a 1kHz tone at –110dBFS, played back from SACD (fig.3, 

bottom pair of traces at 1kHz), but at lower frequencies, 

the noise floor is no better than it is for CD. There is a 60Hz 

power-supply hum component evident, though this does 

lie 105dB down from full level, which is acceptably low. 

But peaks can also be seen at 20Hz and 350Hz, which 

might be due to spurious idle tones of some kind. 

Linearity error, measured using a 500Hz tone on a 

test CD, was low to below –100dBFS (fig.4), but analog 

noise obscured the waveform of an undithered 16-bit 

tone at exactly –90.31dBFS (fig.5), which should reproduce 

with just three DC voltage levels. The downward 

slope of the wave in this graph also reveals the presence 

of low-frequency noise. Correlating with the spectral 

Fig.4 Oppo DV-970HD, right-channel departure from linearity, 16-bit data 

(2dB/vertical div.). 

times the player’s price. 

The DV-970HD outputs high-resolution 

multichannel digital audio 

through its HDMI connection, as well 

as 96kHz PCM through its S/PDIF. It 

converts DSD to 24-bit/88kHz PCM 

before outputting it through the 

HDMI jack, so, assuming you aren’t 

bothered by the thought of that conversion, 

you can enjoy SACDs through 

your HDMI DAC of choice. (Should 

this bother you? I can’t say, since I can’t 

do an A/B and tell you, but many DV- 

970HD owners seem quite happy with 

the benefits of converted digital. Just as 

many folks think it’s a crime against 

nature.) (JA notes that no high-end 

DACs have HDMI inputs, and only a 

handful of A/V receivers, because of 

the HDMI standard’s requirement for 

anticopying handshaking.) 

While Oppo does sell to select stores 

and installers, its products are primarily 

sold direct. I should note that the DV- 

970HD comes packaged securely in a 

double box, with sufficient foam 

padding and even a plush velour wrapper. 

Also included are a multi-function 

remote, the usual gimme audio cables, 

and a 6' HDMI cable. 

plots shown in fig.3, increasing the bit depth to 24 produced 

a waveform (not shown) that looked very similar 

to the spectral plots shown in fig.3. The Oppo player 

really doesn’t offer much more resolution from SACD 

and DVD-A than it does from CD. 

The DV-970HD did produce very low levels of harmonic 

distortion, even into quite low impedances. Fig.6, for example, 

was taken with the player driving a full-scale 1kHz tone 

Fig.5 Oppo DV-970HD, waveform of undithered 1kHz sinewave at 

–90.31dBFS, 16-bit data. 

Fig.6 Oppo DV-970HD, spectrum of 1kHz sinewave at 0dBFS into 8k ohms 

(linear frequency scale). 


Problems are only opportunities 

with thorns on them 

As noted earlier, the Oppo’s display is 

basically incapable of saying much 

more than “NO DISC” and “PLAYING”—a 

video display is required for setup. If 

you want to make changes on the fly 

or really exploit different output 

options, you’ll need to keep a monitor 

in your listening room. Neither of my 

listening rooms has such a critter, so I 

sneakernetted the DV-970HD into my 

home theater for setup. 

Setup was fairly straightforward, 

except for one thing: If you want to 

take advantage of the hi-rez multichannel 

digital output over HDMI, 

you need to set the player to 720p or 

1080i. What does video output have to 

do with audio signals? In the HDMI 

protocol, the data pipe has a bandwidth 

of only 27MHz at the lower 

video settings—not nearly enough 

bandwidth for six or eight channels of 

hi-rez digital. 

Another setup issue: The DV- 

970HD is a firmware-based product, 



into 8k ohms, yet all the spurious harmonics lie at –100dB 

or below. Note, however, that the fifth harmonic (circled) is 

the highest in level, and the seventh also makes an appearance. 

The third harmonic lay at –104dB, but at low frequencies, 

this rose in level to –90dB. 

The picture looked less healthy with intermodulation 

distortion. With the DV-970HD driving a full-scale mix of 19 

and 20kHz tones into 8k ohms (fig.7), the second-order 

component at 1kHz lay at a respectable –100dB (0.001%). 

The higher-order components were considerably higher in 

level, however, and probably of more subjective consequence, 

the noise floor can be seen to rise around the 

spectral lines representing the signal components. 

This kind of behavior is generally associated with poor 

Fig.7 Oppo DV-970HD, HF intermodulation spectrum, 19+20kHz at 0dBFS 

peak into 8k ohms (linear frequency scale). 

and Oppo Digital does frequent 

firmware updates. Fortunately, this is 

simple and painless. All you do is go 

to Oppo’s website and navigate to the 

Support section. Download the 

update to your computer, burn it to a 

CD-R, insert the CD-R in your 

Oppo player. It will read the disc, 

then open the drawer. Remove the 

disc. When the player has finished 

updating itself, it will close the drawer 

and reboot. 

Oppo gets high marks for its customer 

service, which has inspired a 

devoted following among its customers. 

The company responds to email 

and phone inquiries quickly, and 

seems genuinely concerned about customer 

feedback, which tends to 

prompt what the company addresses in 

its firmware updates. My DV-970HD 

arrived without manuals, but minutes 

after discovering that, I had downloaded 

them from Oppo’s website 

(once I’d thought of looking for them 

under “Support” rather than the 

nonexistent “Manuals”). 

Opportunity is a bird that 

never perches 

Once I’d set up the DV-970HD with 

my home theater’s display, I installed it 

in my small listening room, and let it 

break in and settle down with David 

Russell’s Art of the Guitar (CD, Telarc 

CD-80672). Krell’s Evolution 202 preamplifier 

and Evolution 600 

monoblocks drove a pair of standmounted 

Dynaudio Confidence C1 

loudspeakers. 

Any misgivings I had about pairing a 

$149 disc player with a $50,000 system 

were quickly laid to rest. Albéniz’s 

Malagueña, Op.3, was full-bodied and 

smooth. The harmonic overtones of 

the strings were extended and decayed 

slowly—top-end extension was 

detailed, but not etched. Russell’s 

melodic momentum was forceful, 

delivered with rhythmic ebb and flow 

that was convincingly dynamic. 

Ida Haendel’s recital DVD-V Bach, 

Beethoven, Chausson (VAI 4395) was an 

ear-opener. Haendel plays both a 

Stradivari and a Guarneri; I don’t know 

jitter rejection, and the Oppo fell short of what I would like 

to have seen in this area, even considering the player’s very 

affordable price. Fig.8 is a narrowband spectral analysis of 

the DV-970HD’s analog output while it played back a CD 

containing a high-level tone at exactly one-quarter the 

sample rate, over which had been laid the LSB toggling on 

and off at 1/192 the same rate. Not only does the same 

sort of noise-floor modulation seen in fig.7 make an 

appearance, but a very large number of sidebands can be 

seen surrounding the peak that represents the HF tone. 

Those indicated with red numeric markers are related to 

audio data, those marked in brown to the power supply 

Fig.8 Oppo DV-970HD, high-resolution jitter spectrum of analog output 

signal (11.025kHz at –6dBFS, sampled at 44.1kHz with LSB toggled 

at 229Hz), 16-bit CD data. Center frequency of trace, 11.025kHz; 



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which she played on this recording, but 

in her hands it sounds like a cannon. 

Between her emphatic downstrokes 

and assertive double-stopping, the 

Ciaccona of Bach’s Partita 2 in D Minor 

(BWV 1004) sounded huge. Once 

she’d essayed the first fugue, however, 

Haendel’s tone was rich, warm, and 

round. I didn’t need to know which 

fiddle she was playing; the Oppo let 

me hear that it was one in a million— 

and played by one of the great ones. 

Hearing Haendel play Bach is to be 

reminded that, for all of the formal purity 

of his work, Bach pére was a man of 

flesh and blood—and a passionate one at 

that. In the Ciaccona, Haendel invests 

Bach with the Beethovenian “shattering 

resignation of a man to his unavoidable 

tragic destiny,” as she has described it. 

That observation isn’t a gratuitous aside, 

but rather my way of noting how much 

drama and emotion the $149 Oppo was 

capable of delivering. 

Similarly, on Chesky’s fabulous 

Swing Live (DVD-A, CHDVD222), 

which features Bucky Pizzarelli, Peter 



(those marked in purple are of unknown origin). The jitter 

level was 4 nanoseconds peak–peak, around 20 times 

higher than the best playback systems I have measured. 

Concerned that I was being misled by my test gear, I 

repeated the test with the same 16-bit signal on a DVD-A, 

then with a 24-bit version of the data. Both jitter level and 

spectra were the same. I then repeated the test using a different 

analyzer, but again with no change in the result. Performing 

a wideband spectral analysis of the Oppo’s output 

while it played back a high-level tone at 11.025kHz from 

SACD gave the graph shown in fig.9. Not only are the jitter 

and noise-floor modulation still apparent, but the idle-tone 

spectral content at low frequencies seen in earlier graphs is 

still present. You can also see the rise in ultrasonic noise 

Fig.9 Oppo DV-970HD, spectrum of analog output signal, 11.025kHz at 

–3dBFS, SACD data (logarithmic frequency scale). 

Appleyard, Bernard Purdie, Allen 

Vache, and Michael Moore in 2-, 4-, 

and 6-channel 24-bit/96kHz, the 

Oppo’s analog outputs delivered seriously 

swinging sound with depth, 

spread, and vigor. This live, minimally 

edited performance had more room 

acoustic than the Russell CD or the 

Haendel DVD, but the spatial detail 

didn’t come at the price of the tonal 

information or the rhythmic drive. Pizzarelli’s 

relaxed riffing on “Lime House 

Blues” proves that high-energy guitar 

playing is not the sole domain of the 

young and hormonally overloaded—the 

man can just flat-out play, and if you 

can’t make the trip to hear him while 

you still can, you need to get this disc. If 

I had any real complaint, it was that 

Michael Moore’s acoustic bass sounded 

somewhat puddingy, which I initially 

thought might have been because of 

the room itself. (Chesky doesn’t “fix it 

in the mix,” because that wouldn’t be a 

ANY MISGIVINGS I HAD ABOUT PAIRING A $149 

DISC PLAYER WITH A $50,000 SYSTEM WERE QUICKLY 

LAID TO REST. 

true re-creation of the event.) 

My current favorite SACD, Paavo 

Järvi and the Cincinnati Symphony’s 

disc of works by Britten and Elgar 

(Telarc SACD-80660), also got its 

workout in the Oppo. Four Sea Interludes 

from Peter Grimes had weight and 

breadth, with a great amount of lowlevel 

detail. However, once again, I 

wasn’t completely happy with the lowend 

sound, which was somewhat soft 

and overripe in the midbass. I’d also 

due to SACD’s DSD encoding, but this is low in level, correlating 

with the somewhat curtailed response above the 

audioband seen with SACD playback in fig.1. 

It is hard to predict the subjective effect of such high jitter, 

but a flat, rather uninvolving presentation would be my 

suggestion. I do note that Wes Phillips found that the Oppo 

player sounded somewhat soft and overripe in the midbass, 

which is one consequence of high amounts of random 

jitter, in my experience. He concluded that the DV- 

970HD’s “performance as a standalone player wasn’t 

where I felt its true potential lies, but when connected to a 

good DAC it punched way outside its class.” I must admit 

that I had trouble checking the quality of the Oppo’s digital 

output because, for a while, I couldn’t get it to output audio 

data with a sample rate greater than 48kHz, even with 

DVDs that allow an in-the-clear hi-rez signal to be output. 

The trick, it transpired, was to turn off the HDMI output, 

which allowed the maximum sample rate of the S/PDIF 

jacks to be set to 96kHz or 192kHz. Even so, using RME’s 

DIGICheck program, I found that the DV-970HD’s digital 

output truncated the word length to 16 bits, even with true 

24-bit audio (such as my own DVD-As, burned with Minnetonka 

Software’s DiscWelder Bronze program). 

Does this matter? Perhaps not, as Wes enthused over 

the Oppo used as a transport to feed 96kHz-sampled 

audio to the Slim Devices DAC. But I still would like to have 

seen all 24 bits active in the digital output words. 



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noticed this with Swing Live, so it’s 

unlikely that it was caused by the conversion 

of DSD to PCM. 

Change is a challenge and 

an opportunity 

John Atkinson had kindly lent me his 

Pioneer DV-578A DVD player, which 

he’d bought for $160, as a “real-world” 

comparison. Did the Oppo better the 

Pioneer? Well, yes— 

but if you’re only 

going to be using the 

players’ analog outputs, 

it probably 

makes little sense to 

trade one for the 

other. 

The Oppo was less 

smeared in the high 

end, which meant that 

Haendel’s tone was 

more polished and 

Peter Appleyard’s 

vibes had more clangy 

overtones. Both players 

were disappointing in the low end. 

No, that’s too harsh—compared to the 

universal players to which I’ve been 

listening, the Ayre C-5xe and Krell 

Evolution 505, neither the Oppo nor 

the Pioneer was completely satisfying, 

especially in the bottom end. Yet both 

players were revelations to me: I’d had 

no idea how good sub-$200 digital had 

become, much less sub-$200 universal 

digital players. 

Good as the Oppo is, when I 

switched into the system the Ayre K- 

5xe—the universal player I actually 

own—the differences weren’t hard to 

hear. The room acoustic of Swing Live 

was bigger, deeper, more solid. 

Moore’s bass sound was larger, louder, 

and far more tightly coupled to a discrete 

instrument, as opposed to just 

floating in the performance space. 

Haendel’s performance, which was 

far from small or lacking in nuance 

through the Oppo, became bolder and 

even more incisive through the K-5xe. 

The woody warmth of her instrument 

became richer and smokier; the subtle 

differences in string attack were more 

pronounced. And although you might 

think it a strange thing to mention, the 

elegance of her musical logic became 

more compelling. 

As for the Britten, well, wow. It 

never ceases to amaze me how good 

SACD sounds when played back properly. 

I don’t know whether the tremendous 

difference I heard between the 


Oppo and the Ayre had anything to do 

with the DSD-to-PCM conversion, or 

if the Ayre’s DSD-to-analog conversion 

is simply better designed, or if the 

Ayre’s analog circuitry is just better, but 

on SACD the differences between the 

players were simply mind-boggling. 

It wasn’t simply the aching purity of 

the strings’ harmonics or the solidity 

and extension of the deep bass, but 

also the Ayre’s presentation of soundstaging 

detail and perspective. The 

Oppo hung an image between the 

speakers and extending to my front 

wall, an accurate, although scaleddown, 

re-creation of Cincinnati’s 

Music Hall. With the Ayre, especially 

in my Room Tunes–treated small listening 

room, the soundstage boundaries 

were not constrained by my 

room’s dimensions. Was the sound- 

stage big as life? Heck no, but it was 

huuuuuge. And tastefully so. 

Ability is of little account 

without opportunity 

When I re-read the long commentary 

strands about the DV-970HD on various 

audio bulletin boards, I noticed 

that its most vocal advocates were 

using it to drive DACs, primarily in 

The Oppo DV-970HD includes a full set of cables, including a HDMI cable for video and digital audio. 


DIGITAL SOURCES Ayre C-5xe universal 

player, Krell Evolution 505 


DIGITAL CONVERTER Slim Devices 

Transporter. 

PREAMPLIFIERS Ayre K-1xe, Krell 

Evolution 202. 

POWER AMPLIFIERS Ayre M-XR 

monoblocks, Krell Evolution 600. 

LOUDSPEAKERS Dynaudio Confidence 

C1, Wilson Audio Specialties 

WATT/Puppy 8. 

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racks; Ayre Myrtle Wood 

Blocks. —Wes Phillips 

systems using the HDMI connection. 

That particular digital pipe is more 

common in A/V systems than in 

music-only surround or stereo rigs, and 

besides, I didn’t have any DACs or digital 

preamps that employed it. What I 

did have to hand, however, was the 

Slim Devices Transporter, which offers 

24-bit resolution at 44.1kHz, 48kHz, 

or 96kHz—making it perfect for use 

with the Oppo’s hi-rez digital output. 

It was time to take the DV-970HD 

upstairs to the big rig. 

From this point on, comparisons 

were made in my larger listening 

room, using the Ayre C-5xe universal 

player, Ayre K-1xe preamplifier, and 

Ayre M-XR monoblock amplifiers 

driving Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy 

8s. The DV-970HD was connected to 

the Transporter with Stereovox XV2 

75-ohm coaxial cable. 

I started with Swing Live and immediately 

hit a snag—actually, I’d hit the 

same snag in my small listening room, 

but there it didn’t annoy me as much. 

The Chesky DVD-A offers you a 

choice of several audio mixes (2-, 4-, 

and 6-channel 24-bit/96kHz), but to 

choose a particular mix, you need a 

monitor. With DVD-Vs that first 

dump you into a menu screen, you can 

work around this by using the “direct 

play” hack: Insert the DVD, and as 

soon as it will let you, press Stop. Then 

press Menu, and the DV-970HD will 

skip the warning and the promos and 


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just start the feature. Because the DV- 

970HD is marketed as a universal player, 

it seems petty to complain that it 

requires a monitor for its OSD menu 

trees, but it’s a pain in the keister for 

ardent audiophiles who don’t want a 

screen in the listening room. This is 

one area where the Ayre just shines; its 

interface lets you navigate discs without 

an external monitor. 

Yowzah! Using the Transporter to 

convert the Oppo’s 96kHz digital output 

made me understand what all the 

fuss is about. Forget “good for the 

money”—now we’re talking worldclass. 

What’s that you say? Using a 

$2000 DAC makes no sense with a 

$150 front end? Au contraire, mon ami, 

which is French for in a pig’s eye. Many 

audiophiles, prosumers, and folks with 

music servers already have hi-rez 

DACs in our systems—the DV-970HD 

gives us an affordable means of feeding 

them high-octane digital. 

Bloated bass and congested highs— 

all gone. The soundstage became bigger, 

and Pizzarelli swung even harder—if 

such a thing is possible. The 

combo of Oppo and Slim Devices 

now offered the K-5xe far more serious 

competition. In fact, the DV- 

970HD with Transporter had more 

incisive focus, which I somewhat preferred 

to the airier, er, Ayre. That is to 

say, sometimes I did, taking it to be 

greater detail; at other times I 

thought the Ayre’s slightly more 

atmospheric sound was less hyped, 

and therefore more relaxing, than the 

Oppo–Slim Devices. They were 

close, though; close enough that the 

differences fell pretty far into personal-preference 

territory. 

The specificity and verismo of the 

DV-970HD–Transporter duo definitely 

impressed me with the Ida Haendel 

disc, where I was reminded of the difference 

between video and film. Video 

always looks realer, whereas film 

always looks better. Haendel’s Bach is 

so strong and aggressive that the 

Oppo–Slim Devices’ slightly greater 


acerbity seemed better suited to it than 

the Ayre’s softer, more film-like focus. 

Again, your mileage may vary; that was 

my take. 

All great work is preparing 

yourself for the accident 

to happen 

So how good can a $149 player be? The 

Oppo DV-970HD is very good. Using 

its internal D/A converters, the Oppo 

produces listenable, detailed, extremely 

satisfying sound from pretty much 

THE OPPO DV-970HD’S PERFORMANCE AS A 

STANDALONE PLAYER WASN’T WHERE I FELT ITS 

TRUE POTENTIAL LIES, BUT WHEN CONNECTED TO 

A GOOD DAC IT PUNCHED WAY OUTSIDE ITS CLASS. 

every optical-disc format currently 

available. However, as a standalone 

universal player, it won’t cause Krell’s 

Dan D’Agostino or Ayre’s Charlie 

Hansen any sleepless nights. 

On the other hand, the DV- 

970HD is aimed at A/V enthusiasts, 

who generally use their players’ digital 

outputs and perform the D/A conversion 

offboard. If you have a hi-rez 

DAC that can utilize 96kHz signals, 

you can benefit from that increased 

bandwidth, as I did. If you have 

HDMI-compatible gear, you can benefit 

from 24-bit word length as well, 

although I did not audition the DV- 

970HD that way, since none of my 

A/V gear supports that standard (I’m 

hi-fi proud, but HT poor). 

I was impressed by the Oppo DV- 

970HD. It looks good, it feels solid and 

reassuringly well-built, and I was 

impressed by the company’s service 

ethic. I see why it has become a 

favorite among consumers. Its performance 

as a standalone player wasn’t 

where I felt its true potential lies, but 

when connected to a good DAC it 

punched way outside its class. 

Here’s the part that may truly mark 

me as an ass: After I’d done everything 

I’ve written about here, I finally 

installed the DV-970HD in my home 

theater, where I discovered that it’s also 

an extremely impressive DVD player. 

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Westone UM56 custom earmolds 

In my March 2007 review of Shure’s 

E4 earphones (p.118), I described my 

preliminary experience with the custom 

earmolds Westone makes for 

Shure’s E2, E3, and E4 series of in-ear 

’phones, as well as for Westone’s own 

UM-1, UM-2, 

and the new 3 

’phones (which I 

plan to review). 

Westone’s earmolds 

are made 

from silicone 

material impressions 

of your ear 

canals made by 

your audiologist. 

Westone’s literature 

suggests that 

the fit should be 

positive—when 

it’s in right, they 

say, you’ll know 

it. That wasn’t 

my experience. 

The right side, 

especially, didn’t 

seal well, and 

wiggled loose 

when I exercised. 

I had a replacement 

made for 

the right earpiece, but it was only a little 

bit better. The fit on the left side 

wasn’t the greatest, either. 

Turns out there was a good reason 

for that. “Westone recommends open 

jaw ear impressions taken to the second 

bend of the ear canal,” Westone 

says at www.westone.com. “If you ask 

your hearing healthcare professional to 

take your impressions this way, we’ll 

have the best possible starting point 

for crafting your monitors or musicians’ 

earplugs.” When I mentioned 

this to my audiologist, who is very 

experienced in most matters audiological 

but not in making custom earmolds, 

she disagreed. I’m not going to 

be listening to music slackjawed, she 

reasoned, so why should she take the 

impressions that way? 

Why, indeed? When she called 

Westone to find out, she was told that 

Westone makes earmolds primarily for 

musicians who perform on stage, and 

FOLLOW -UP 

Jim Austin & Brian Damkroger 

musicians on stage often sing. That 

didn’t apply to me, so we went with 

the relaxed-jaw approach. As I wrote in 

the March issue, I wasn’t satisfied with 

the result. 

But when I submitted that review, 

John Atkinson told me that both he and 

Shure E4 earphones with Westone custom earmolds, in blue. 

Wes Phillips had been told to keep their 

mouths wide open while the silicone 

hardened. “Maybe that’s why yours didn’t 

work so well,” he suggested. So I set 

up another appointment with my audiologist, 

who, to indulge me, once again 

took a few minutes out of another day of 

helping hearing-impaired school kids. 

Audiologists have rubber “bite 

blocks” that help you keep your mouth 

open without tiring your jaw muscles, 

but bite blocks aren’t made big enough 

for my mouth. (No jokes, please.) So I 

opened wide and toughed it out as the 

silicone was injected and hardened. 

I’ve been using the new earmolds 

for several weeks now, and I’m very 

pleased with the result. There’s a nice, 

positive fit, they seal out outside 

sound, the bass response is strong, and, 

when attached to my Shure E4s, they 

sound great. As I wrote in my review 

of the E4s, the combination of Apple 

iPod, Shure in-ear ’phones, and custom 

earmolds from 

Westone falls well 

short of the transcendent 

musical 

experience delivered 

by the finest 

high-end gear, but 

for not too much 

money, it allows 

me to listen to 

music with pleasure 

during time 

that would otherwise 

be wasted—a 

major improvement 

in my days. 

At $125/pair, 

Westone’s earmolds 

are a real 

bargain by hi-fi 

standards, and satisfaction 

is guaranteed: 

there’s no 

extra charge for 

AUDIOLOGISTS HAVE RUBBER “BITE BLOCKS” THAT 

HELP YOU KEEP YOUR MOUTH OPEN WITHOUT 

TIRING YOUR JAW MUSCLES. 

remakes, for me or for you. Highly recommended—but 

open wide. —Jim Austin 

VTL TL-7.5 Series II Stereo 

Reference preamplifier 

When it was introduced in 2002, the 

VTL TL-7.5 Stereo Reference line 

stage sent a huge ripple through the 

high-end world. Paul Bolin and John 

Atkinson contributed to the commotion 

with raves in the October 2003 

Stereophile, and I repeated their superlatives 

in a “Follow-Up” in December 

2005. I also echoed PB’s conclusion 

that it was nearly impossible to attach 

any specific sound to the TL-7.5. With 

20/20 hindsight, it’s now clear that the 


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TL-7.5, along with VTL’s Reference 

Series power amplifiers and Halcro’s 

own stunning Reference Series electronics, 

were the first truly 21st-century 

high-end products, establishing a 

new standard with the transparency of 

their sound. 

In the five years since introducing 

the TL-7.5, VTL has systematically 

applied the model’s technologies to 

other products. Mostly they’ve trickled 

them down to update existing, lowercost 

models, but VTL has also used the 

TL-7.5’s basic design elements to 

underpin new models—such as the single-chassis 

TL-6.5 line stage and, more 

recently, the Signature Phono Stage. 

“With each application,” said VTL 

principal Luke Manley, “we learn new 

things, partially because the constraints 

and goals are different, but partially 

because new technologies and parts are 

available. And after doing the Phono 

Stage, we felt that there were enough 

things to take advantage of that it merited 

looking at the 7.5 again.” 

The TL-7.5 Series II differs from the 

original in four principal ways. First, it 

costs $16,500, or $4000 more than the 

original. 1 (A Series I TL-7.5 can be 

upgraded to Series II status for $4500.) 

The second is an accumulation of several 

modifications to the power supply, 

each minor in itself, but adding up to 

and necessitating a substantial upgrading. 

The third was the replacement of a 

number of components. In some cases 

these were simple swappings-in of 

superior parts; in others, the replacement 

also required changes in circuit 

parameters and topography, or perhaps 

added a bypass to an existing circuit 

branch. As part of this scrubbing, VTL 

ended up designing and had made a 

number of proprietary passive components 

when they were unable to find 

off-the-shelf items that met their needs. 

It’s the fourth element of the update 

that VTL notes first, however: the 

replacement of the TL-7.5’s 12AX7 

tube with the Series II’s 12AU7, and 

the redesigning of the surrounding circuit 

to run the tube at a substantially 

higher current than before. The resulting 

lower plate impedance improves 

the drive to the following MOSFET, 

resulting in a wider frequency range. 

Indeed, testing of my ‘7.5 confirmed 

1 The TL-7.5 II costs $16,500; an upgrade from the original 

TL-7.5 costs $4500. VTL Amplifiers Inc., 4774 Murrieta 

Street, Suite 10, Chino, CA 91710. Tel: (909) 

627-5944. Fax: (909) 627-6988. Web: www.vtl.com. 

FOLLOW-UP 

that where the original’s output began 

to dip at about 20kHz, the Series II 

was less than 0.5dB down out to 

200kHz. The result, according to VTL, 

is a faster, more open sound, particularly 

at the frequency extremes. The 

change has also resulted in the Series II 

having slightly lower maximum gain: 

20dB vs 26dB in balanced mode, 

which tends to be a better match for 

the high outputs of CD players. 

If the original was perfect, is the 

Series II more perfect? The best way 

to set the stage for the TL-7.5 Series II 

is to revisit Paul Bolin’s comments on 

the original, from Vol.26 No.10: “It is 

no easy thing to attempt to describe 

the ‘sound’ of a component that had 

less intrinsic sonic character than anything 

else I have ever reviewed. The 

TL-7.5 had such an infinitesimal sound 

of its own, and did everything so 

supremely well, that I found nothing to 

rationally criticize. Sonically, it simply 

did not exist in the signal chain.” 

I agreed with Paul wholeheartedly. 

My time with the Series I convinced 

me that it combined the best attributes 

of everything I’d heard up to that point. 

The TL-7.5 had the transparency of the 

best passive units, but without their 

slight dulling of transients. It also had 

the dynamics and speed of the best 

active line stages I’d heard, while completely 

removing from the sound all 

traces of “electronic detritus,” to bor- 

row a phrase from Michael Fremer. 

My first response to the TL-7.5 

Series II was exactly what VTL would 

have predicted. I was impressed. The 

II’s presentation was more dramatic, 

and the presentation of even old 

IN THE FIVE YEARS SINCE INTRODUCING THE 

TL-7.5, VTL HAS SYSTEMATICALLY APPLIED THE 

MODEL’S TECHNOLOGIES TO OTHER PRODUCTS. 

favorites, such as Beverly Sills, with 

Aldo Ceccato and the Royal Philharmonic, 

in Verdi’s La Traviata (LP, Angel 

SCLX-3780), had an energy that 

immediately caught my attention—the 

recording space itself seemed more 

alive. On the wonderful Heifetz-Piatigorsky 

Concerts (LP, RCA LDS-6159), I 

felt more aware of the instruments’ 

textural and dynamic subtleties, and 

the subtle nuances of those masters 

The TL-7.5 keeps the audio circuits isolated from noise in a separate chassis. 

were bolder and more tangible with 

the Series II than I remembered hearing 

through the original TL-7.5. 

When I switched gears to a series of 

classic rock albums, I was impressed 

anew by the Series II. There was no 

doubt that its dynamics and speed were 

improved at the frequency extremes. 

Bass guitars sounded both cleaner and 

more powerful, and I was again aware of 

increased detail. At the other end, everything 

from the upper midrange/lower 

treble on up was definitely more 

dynamic, and the spaces between notes 

and instruments were clearer and more 

starkly defined. 

Throughout my audition, which 

Continued on p.127 


RECORD REVIEWS 

RECORDING OF THE MONTH 

When, following the superb Wide Angels (2003), recorded 

with his 15-piece Quindectet, Michael Brecker 

decided to end his long-term contract with 

Impulse!/Verve and hook up with Heads Up 

International, part of his goal was to adventurously expand his 

repertoire in a jazz direction more oriented toward world 

music—specifically, an album influenced by Bulgarian music, 

which had forced him to harmonically reconceptualize how he 

played his tenor sax. However, his Bulgarian speed-jazz project, 

which was to include Bulgarian artists, was shelved in 2005 

when Brecker was stricken with the rare bone-marrow cancer 

Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which ultimately led to his 

death, at 57, in early January 2007. 

Despite long periods of complete 

inactivity enforced by the severity of 

MDS, Brecker found pockets of time 

to begin working on a compositional 

journey that would entail the enlistment 

of some trusted longtime collaborators, 

including guitarist Pat 

Metheny, pianist Herbie Hancock, 

and drummer Jack DeJohnette. 

Pianist Brad Mehldau alternates with 

Hancock, and bassist John Patitucci 

anchors the entire album. Initially 

titled This Just In, this appropriately 

changed to Pilgrimage following 

Brecker’s death, the CD, released four 

months after that passing, is Brecker’s 

brilliant final hurrah, a nine-tune swan 

song written and recorded in his last 

few months. Well aware that this 

could indeed be his ultimate outing, 

Brecker meticulously composed 

MICHAEL BRECKER Pilgrimage 

music that teems with complex arrangements and a soulful 

urgency in which every note counts. 

Brecker didn’t quite complete the project. He recorded and 

mixed all of the tracks but was unable to master them, a task 

painstakingly carried out after his death by coproducers 

Metheny, Gil Goldstein, and Steve Rodby, executive producer 

Darryl Pitt, and engineer Joe Ferla. Their labor of love and dedication 

to detail makes Pilgrimage a sonic treat that wholly reveals 

the crystal in Brecker’s clarion sound. Also impressive is the 

impeccable instrumental mix: each player is given equal weight, 

most notably Patitucci’s affective mélange of bass lines and 

grooves. Case in point: his slow, sad steps on the melancholic 

ballad “When Can I Kiss You Again.” 

The performances are inspired. All participants rise to the 

occasion, obviously fired up that Brecker had new musical ideas 

and was healthy enough to express and document them. 

Although Pilgrimage features, in essence, a studio supergroup, the 

cumulative effect is that of a celebratory band with a deeply 

ingrained improvisational chemistry. The playing is lofty—everyone 

listens and responds, spurring each other on and clearing 

the sound space for instrumental showcasing. 

On many tracks, the operative word is uptempo. The album 

Michael Brecker, tenor sax, EWI; Pat Metheny, guitars; 

Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau, keyboards; John 

Patitucci, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums 

Heads Up International HUCD 3095 (CD). 2007. 

Michael Brecker, Gil Goldstein, Steve Rodby, Pat 

Metheny, prods.; Darryl Pitt, exec. prod.; Joe Ferla, 

eng. DDD. TT: 77:57 

Performance ★★★★ 1 ⁄2 

Sonics ★★★★ 1 ⁄2 

opens with the robust “The Mean Time,” which features 

Hancock’s unmistakable dashes across the keys, Metheny’s softtoned 

but molten droplets of glee, and Brecker’s fine-tuned 

excitement. “Anagram” has irregular tempos, but its gallop carries 

the day as Brecker ecstatically wafts articulate leads above 

Patitucci’s imaginative bass lines, which move from a walking gait 

to reflective pulses. In “Tumbleweed,” Metheny leaps, rolls, and 

somersaults on his synth guitar, and rocks with a trace of funk. 

While Pilgrimage afforded Brecker the rhythmic license to juxtapose 

sounds and colors in his time-shifting flights, the saxophonist 

also gave himself ample space to muse, including his 

inspired end statement on “Cardinal Rule,” and his moving prelude 

on “Pilgrimage,” on which 

Hancock dances on electric keys. 

The most remarkable characteristic 

of Pilgrimage is how potent and flawless 

Brecker’s performance is, given how 

ill he was. He’s absolutely fierce in his 

blowing, wailing on “Tumbleweed” 

and, on the playful, midtempo “Loose 

Threads,” elatedly sketching an angular 

architecture while bursting at the 

seams with gravity-defying buoyancy. 

Purportedly, after completing one 

tune in the session, Hancock 

expressed amazement at Brecker’s 

strength and stamina, then joked, 

“Hey, I thought you’ve been sick.” In 

an interview, Mehldau observed that 

Brecker’s vital and at times intense 

playing didn’t reflect ill health. In reality, 

according to those close to the sessions, 

much of the time Brecker was 

playing in pain. You can hear and feel 

that in his horn. 

Over time, Michael Brecker will be counted among the few 

giants in the jazz pantheon as the singular-voice tenor saxophonist 

who took the baton from his mentor, John Coltrane. 

Throughout his career Brecker made many excellent recordings, 

beginning in the mid-’70s as a member of the Brecker Brothers, 

the seminal skunk-funk fusion band. Later, during his stint at 

Verve, he sought to establish a closer musical connection to 

Coltrane, first by linking up with Trane’s pianist, McCoy Tyner, 

for his 1995 masterwork, Tales from the Hudson. He then furthered 

the connection by employing Trane’s drummer, Elvin Jones, for 

Time Is of the Essence (1999). The Nearness of You: The Ballad Book 

(2001) was inspired by Coltrane’s classic Ballads. Other Coltrane 

projects ensued, including Brecker’s collaboration with Hancock 

on Directions in Music: Celebrating Miles Davis & John Coltrane (2002, 

Verve), and the Saxophone Summit project with Joe Lovano and 

Dave Liebman, which focused on Coltrane’s later material and 

resulted in Gathering of Spirits (2004, Telarc). 

While he carried on the Coltrane tradition in a respectful way, 

Michael Brecker did so in his own distinctive voice. That voice is 

in full frontal view on Pilgrimage, a captivating disc of jazz elevated 

to a fine art, and the apex of a too-short career. —Dan Ouellette 


Wilson Audio is now in Dallas 

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MOZART 

Requiem 

classical 

Sibylla Rubens, soprano; Lioba Braun, mezzo-soprano; Steve Davislim, tenor; 

Georg Zeppenfeld, bass; Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner 

Philharmoniker; Christian Thielemann 

Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 5797 (CD). 2006. Roland Ott, prod.; Jürgen 

Bulgrin, eng. DDD. TT: 52:00 

Performance ★★ 

Sonics ★★ 1 ⁄2 

Christian Thielemann is not known for his Mozart and 

is no Mozartean, a fact he apparently felt compelled to 

bring to the classical music community’s attention: his 

latest recording for Deutsche Grammophon is a 

Requiem with the Münchner Philharmoniker, served up in 

December of the Mozart year like a shabby, cynical donation 

to Goodwill, just in time to get the receipt on the books. 

Thielemann brings little to the podium here other than a 

penchant for deliberate tempos and exaggerated dynamics; furthermore, 

he offers no insight into—or even familiarity with— 

the work, a deficit that ought to preclude recording this or any 

warhorse. His cautious interpretation is a tabula rasa, perhaps 

ideal for a chorister or student looking to become familiar with 

the score, but not so much for a listener eager to be submerged 

in Mozart’s genius. 

The Introitus is an afternoon stroll in the park that doesn’t give 

tension a chance. The Kyrie is nicely driven, but Thielemann 

seems to micromanage without revealing the arc of its mighty 

fugue. When the fugue returns in the finale under the text of 

“Cum sanctis tuis” (this is Süssmayr’s default completion), it 

would appear that pleas for mercy and for perpetual light warrant 

identical levels of urgency from the choir. In the Dies Irae, 

the strings play with precision but without fire, and the Rex 

tremendae wants for the bellows, too. The Confutates is finely balanced 

(maybe Thielemann had a chance to watch Amadeus) but 

lacks an edge. And the normally transcendent Lacrimosa, unable 

to shed its contrivances, never reaches the heavens. 

The bass-heavy sound of this live performance adds no 

value, providing little in terms of orchestral separation, and a 

muddling of the strings and lower vocal registers pervades the 

recording. There is generally a fine brightness in the upper registers, 

and counterpoint shines through in unexpected places. 

Life is too short, and Mozart’s Requiem too long, to settle 

for a less-than-commendable recording. Here are three alternatives: 

Spering (Naïve 30307), Schreier (Philips 411 420), 

and Harnoncourt (ed. Süssmayr, rev. Beyer; SACD, Deutsche 

Harmonia Mundi 58705). —Ben Finane 

CLARA ROCKMORE 

Clara Rockmore’s Lost Theremin Album 

Works by Bach, Cassadó, Chopin, Dvorák, Fuleihan, Gershwin, Kreisler, Louiguy, 

Mattheson, Ponce, Ravel, Robinson, Schubert, Villa-Lobos 

Clara Rockmore, theremin; Nadia Reisenberg, piano; with Jorge Morel, guitar 

Bridge 9208 (CD). 2006. Thomas Z. Shepard, prod.; Joe Castellon, eng.; Joe 

Trapasso, asst. eng. ADD. TT: 61:03 

Performance ★★★ 

Sonics ★★★★ 


If the ghostly theremin ever had a virtuoso, it was the late Clara 

Rockmore. Her instrument, built especially for her by Leon 

Theremin, had a five-octave range, and a lower profile so that 

concert audiences could have a better view of her hands moving 

around the instrument’s pitch and volume antennas. 

A violin prodigy in Russia, Rockmore met Theremin in the 

1930s, after he’d invented his idiosyncratic instrument, and 

quickly became the instrument’s reigning soloist. Her sister, 

pianist Nadia Reisenberg, accompanied her and was an integral 

part of the act. 

Best known as a special-effects tool in space operas or as a 

curio that occasionally crops up, as in the Beach Boys’ “Good 

Vibrations,” the theremin became, in Rockmore’s hands, a genuine 

musical instrument. Her repertoire consisted mostly of 

well-known classical pieces that she floated through with incredible 

aplomb. 

In 1975, after she’d retired from performing, Rockmore 

and her sister were convinced to record nearly two hours’ 

worth of music, only about half of which was released. The 

remaining 16 “lost” Rockmore recordings are here. Given the 

vagaries of the theremin’s tonality and volume, the sound of 

these recordings is impressively well balanced and warm. 

To say that the theremin is an acquired taste is to understate 

the case—for most people, a little of it goes a very long way. 

However hearing Bach from an instrument whose sound falls 

somewhere between a human voice and a bowed instrument is 

a profoundly otherworldly experience. The highlights though 

are a languid and soprano-like rendition of Gershwin’s 

“Summertime,” and Rockmore’s measured cover of the great 

Piaf classic, “La Vie en Rose.” Again, not for everyone, but utterly 

unlike anything else you’ll ever hear. —Robert Baird 

rock/pop 

JOE ELY 

Happy Songs from Rattlesnake Gulch: Pearls 

from the Vault Vol. XX 

Rack’ Em 001 (CD). 2007. Joe Ely, prod.; Little Johnny Fader, eng. AAD. TT: 49:24 

Performance ★★★ 

Sonics ★★★ 

a little skeptical about CD collections of previously 

unreleased material. For every gem from the 

vaults, it seems, there are more than enough reminders 

always 

I’m 

of why experimental tracks, trial balloons, and other 

recording detritus should never have seen the light of day. 

Fortunately, that’s not the case with Joe Ely’s Happy Songs 

from Rattlesnake Gulch, one of a barrage of 2007 Ely releases. 

The album is being billed as a companion piece to Bonfire of 

Roadmaps, a hardcover edition of drawings and excerpts from 

journals Ely kept during more than three decades on the road. 

There’s also Silver City, a set of early acoustic recordings, and 

two spoken-word CDs of Ely reading excerpts from Bonfire. 

Like the work of so many who came of age in the 1970s, 

Ely’s encompasses the breadth of Texas music, and so didn’t 

easily fit into the categories mainstream record companies 

used to sell product. He wasn’t rock, he wasn’t country, and 

you couldn’t be both. He’s probably better known for his 

occasional hookups, as the Flatlanders, with fellow Texans 

Butch Hancock and Jimmie Dale Gilmore, or as part of Los 

Super Seven, than for his own, wide-ranging style. 


Ely’s musical depth is more than apparent on “Little 

Blossom,” which begins as a loping accordion waltz that I 

could hear Dolly Parton covering—before it changes course 

midstream and becomes a galloping Buddy Holly number. A 

full horn section complements “River Fever,” a rocking ode 

to Austin nightlife, and “Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes.” 

A favorite Ely theme is outlaws, and here the ne’er-do-wells 

include “Jesse Justice,” a pool-hall hustler; the aptly titled “Hard 

Luck Saint”; and “Miss Bonnie and Mister Clyde,” an alternate 

lyric set to the music of his earlier “Me and Billie the Kid.” 

At only 11 songs and 49 minutes, Happy Songs seems a bit 

stingy, especially as it’s subtitled Pearls from the Vault Vol. XX. 

That said, it’s a fine introduction to the many charms of Joe 

Ely—and the perfect soundtrack to reading Bonfire of Roadmaps. 

GRINDERMAN 

Grinderman 


—Leland Rucker 

Anti- ATI-86861-2 (CD). 2007. Grinderman, prods.; Nick Launay, prod., eng.; Matt 

Lawrence, Dom Morley, James Aparicio, engs.; Tim Young, mastering. AAD.? TT: 

36:51 



Viewed from the peanut gallery, Grinderman seems more 

a midlife crisis than a new band. Led by 49-year-old Nick 

Cave and featuring members of his longtime outfit, the 

Bad Seeds, Grinderman is a foray into the primal rock- 

’n’roll swampland. Cave has been here before, but not since he 

was a vampiric young man leading Australia’s goth-noisy 

Birthday Party, or the early, more murderous version of the Bad 

Seeds in the 1980s. In recent years, Cave has positioned himself 

above all the grime: He’s become a Bible scholar (seriously), published 

a novel and two volumes of poetry and essays, written the 

script for Outback-Western film The Proposition, and released 

well-mannered albums with such titles as The Lyre of Orpheus. 

So it’s not surprising that Grinderman is precisely what Cave 

needs to get back into black. The real shock is how sharp and 

caustically funny the band’s first album is. The two opening 

tracks, “Get It On” and “No Pussy Blues,” feature some of 

Cave’s raunchiest preacher-man ranting—the latter title says it 

all—and the stark separation of the vocals from blasts of deathmetal 

riffing and static guitar noise allows for maximum 

dynamic impact. The Stooges-style rockers “Love Bomb” and 

“Honey Bee (Let’s Fly to Mars)” are more loosely played and 

muddily recorded, and this is the album’s main flaw: the lack of 

a consistent approach behind the boards. Otherwise, the different 

songwriting styles on Grinderman hang together with thematic 

ease, from the electric-bouzouki-powered “Electric Alice” 

to the blues shuffle “Go Tell the Women.” Even the syrupy 

“Man in the Moon”—a kind of “Rocket Man”–style ballad about 

an absent father—seems to fit; what bad-ass, renegade rocker 

doesn’t have daddy issues? 

But perhaps the best thing about Grinderman is that Cave’s 

evil side gets some sonic fangs. Listening to The Best of Nick 

Cave and the Bad Seeds—the definitive CD survey, spanning 

1985–1997—is a trip through some painfully thin-sounding 

drums and too-trebly guitars. So welcome back, Nick. Dr. 

Jekyll seemed a respectable, well-educated fellow, but we’d 

much rather have a night of sex, drugs, and violence with Mr. 

Hyde. —Matthew Fritch 

NORAH JONES 

Not Too Late 

Blue Note 3 74516 2 (CD). 2007. Lee Alexander, prod.; Tom Schick, eng. AAD. TT: 

45:29 

Performance ★★ 1 ⁄2 


With this title, it seemed that perhaps the moment for 

Norah Jones to break out and put her surprisingly 

muscular talents on display was finally at hand. 

No such luck. The strollers-and-coffeehouse 

crowd need fear not—Jones remains nice to a fault. Not Too 

Late is more of the same, only this time the creative pulse is 

even pinker and more cotton-candy-like. Now that the late 

Arif Mardin is no longer at the helm, Jones and boyfriendproducer 

Lee Alexander decided to make an album of Jones 

originals instead of pop covers, to establish her cred as some 

kind of alt-jazz singer-songwriter. To go with their homemade 

project, the sound has a fairly spare, demo kind of vibe. 

Earning your spurs as a songwriter is no easy task, and for 

the most part Jones is too timid in this first attempt. Hooks 

like those in her 2002 hit, Jesse Harris’ “Don’t Know Why,” 

are hard to come by, though the groove in the obvious single 

here, Jones’ “Thinking About You,” goes for a reasonable facsimile. 

While there are still relationship songs among these 13 

tracks—“Be My Somebody,” “Little Room”—what’s most 

interesting is that Jones has also penned message songs. The 

problem there is that she’s too sweet to say what she really 

thinks. In “My Dear Country,” she sings, “nothing is as scary 

as election day,” but when it comes to “the one we hate” (ie, 

Bush), she waffles, hoping “maybe he’s not deranged.” 

Besides her being afraid to swing the axe (and piss off the 

Young Republican portion of her fan base), the problem is 

that the feathery, laid-back vocal style Jones favors on her 

own records (but, interestingly, not on other projects, such as 

the NYC glam-rock band El Madmo) is colossally ill-suited 

to this kind of assertion. Her sultry, soothing, often very 

expressive coo does not lend the words enough gravitas. 

Musically, the tunes are mostly genial, undistinguished ballads, 

the only departure being “Sinkin’ Soon.” With M. Ward 

on harmony vocals, Jones ventures into Madeleine Peyroux 

retro territory in an arrangement that features pots-and-pans 

percussion and a trombone given an almost human voice by 

a plunger mute. 

No law says that being loud, rockin’, or wildly experimental 

makes for better records. And while snoozy is nothing to 

aspire to, being pleasant is no sin either. Listening to Not Too 

Late, it’s hard not to wonder—particularly if you’ve seen Jones 

live—what would happen if she dumped the dreaminess, 

pulled out of the slow lane, and pushed her talents into a 

faster, more ambitious universe. —Robert Baird 

NRBQ 

Ludlow Garage 1970 

Sundazed SC 11082 (CD). 2006. Rick Lemker, Dan Britt, engs.; Bob Irwin, mastering, 

AAD? TT: 62:15 

Performance ★★★ 1 ⁄2 


NRBQ & THE WHOLE WHEAT HORNS: 

Derbytown: Live 1982 

MVD Visual DR 4524 (DVD). 2006. TT: 42:44 (plus extras) 


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They were strange days in the USA when NRBQ took 

the stage at the Ludlow Garage in early 1970. There 

could hardly have been a more progressive, less predictable 

band in our land, which had just taken a great 

big Nixonian right turn. But there they were, full of fire and 

fun in Cincinnati, just about the time Columbia put out their 

second and last LP for the label: Boppin’ the Blues, a collaboration 

with rockabilly daddy Carl “Blue Suede Shoes” Perkins. 

In those earliest days, and as they would continue doing for 

more than three decades, the Q lovingly and respectfully 

served up a gumbo of musical styles. Heck, the first song on 

their debut album was written by Eddie Cochran, the second 

by Sun Ra. So it’s not surprising that NRBQ was an anomaly 

onstage. Anchored by guitarist-songwriter Steve Ferguson, 

blue-eyed-soul singer Frank Gadler (both left the group in 

the early ’70s), and keyboardist Terry Adams, the Q would lay 

down a smokin’ version of Little Richard’s “Rip It Up” one 

minute, and in the next a doo-woppy cover of Billy Stewart’s 

1965 hit “Sitting in the Park.” Blink and you might miss them 

then swing from Wilson Pickett to Roland Kirk. 

This was not hip eclecticism for its own sake. NRBQ have 

always been about stretching boundaries, and it’s probably why 

they’ve never achieved widespread popular success, despite 

releasing nearly three dozen albums, several on major labels. 

They’ve also always been about challenging themselves and 

their fans to think, as they reached for the musical outer limits. 

By the sound of it, the Ludlow Garage crowd got it. In his 

liner note, longtime Q cohort Chandler Travis writes, “They 

were shooting to play great music and teach folks what makes 

it great, and, oh yeah, have an absolute ball.” Well, you can 

hear it here in their bopping, upbeat version of Hank Ballard’s 

“Finger Poppin’ Time,” in the sweet but edgy harmonies in 

Ferguson’s original “When It’s Summertime in the 

Wintertime,” in Terry Adams’ inspired clavinet playing in the 

instrumental “Goofus,” and in Ferguson’s freakishly fast guitar 

solos adorning his perky “Flat Foot Flewzy.” Then, on Terry 

Adams’ “Kentucky Slop Song,” there’s some fired-up tenorsax/trombone 

battling by Keith Spring and Donn Adams, 

who together would soon become the Whole Wheat Horns. 

I can assure you of one thing: Neither here nor in anything 

else the Q ever did is there an ounce of self-indulgence. 

Though Ludlow Garage shouldn’t be the first NRBQ album in 

your collection (that distinction belongs squarely to Rhino’s 

two-CD Peek-a-Boo collection, one of my “Records To Die 

For” for 2003), this is an ear-opener—turns out there was a 

band playing this wide-open a spectrum of cool music back at 

the dawn of the ’70s. The real cool thing is that, in the years 

that followed, NRBQ got only better. 

Flash forward to 1982. NRBQ’s sturdiest lineup—guitaristsongwriter 

Al Anderson, drummer Tom Ardolino, Terry Adams, 

veteran bassist Joey Spampinato, and the Whole Wheat Horns 

(Ferguson, Gadler, and drummer Tom Staley are gone)—has been 

on a roll. Anderson, Adams, and Spampinato have become firstclass 

songwriters, and their songs are starting to be covered by 

such top-shelf artists as Bonnie Raitt and Dave Edmunds. The Q 

are more fun and less predictable onstage than ever, and their 

songs have taken a more melodic turn. The Derbytown: Live 1982 

DVD puts you smack dab onstage with the band in Louisville, 

Kentucky. Though the camerawork is pretty basic, it’s a revelation 

even for a longtime fan—and back then, there was no band that I 

saw or liked more than the Q—to watch these guys work together 

and see how they could energize a club. 

They were still doing quirky covers—like Johnny Horton’s 


country hit “Sink the Bismark,” with Donn Adams’ off-color 

singing (think Country Dick Montana)—but there’s a feeling 

of great affection among the players. Anderson is a rock on 

the left side of the stage, an incredibly nimble guitarist and 

singer who can make a basic song like “12 Bar Blues” sound 

as if it contains the secrets of the universe. To his right is 

bassist Spampinato, who’s always reminded me of George 

Harrison. He writes and sings some of the band’s sweeter and 

simpler songs, such as “I Love Her, She Loves Me.” Terry 

Adams manhandles his Hohner Clavinet/Pianet Duo with 

reckless abandon. Before delivering a redemptive and soulful 

version of the Louvin Brothers’ “My Baby Came Back,” 

Anderson introduces Adams as “The Chairman of the Keyboard.” 

Then it’s up to drummer Ardolino to tie everything 

together. With the Q, just when a solo or interlude sounds as 

if it’s about to disintegrate, Ardolino and company rein it all 

in perfectly. 

At less than 43 minutes, Derbytown: Live 1982 doesn’t contain 

a lot of the catchier Q songs of that era—for instance, 

there’s no “Ridin’ in My Car” or “Me and the Boys”—but it’s 

great fun to hear them tear into another classic driving song, 

“Green Lights,” witness the smiles and winks exchanged on 

stage, and see all the members of the band taking turns at the 

mike. Like John, Paul, George, and Ringo, Al, Terry, Joey, and 

Tom all have distinct but hugely complementary styles and 

voices. But the bottom line is the playing and the songs, and 

it rarely got any more inventive and fun than this Q lineup in 

a club before a packed house. Kudos to Derbytown: Live 1982 

for turning back the hands of time. —David Sokol 

jazz 

THE THREE TENORS 

Chris Byars, Ned Goold, Grant Stewart 

CHRIS BYARS: Photos in Black, White and Gray 

Chris Byars, tenor, alto, soprano sax; Sacha Perry, piano; Ari Roland, bass; Andy 

Watson, drums 

Smalls SRCD-0021.07 (CD). 2006. Luke Kaven, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 59:59 



NED GOOLD: March of the Malcontents 

Ned Goold, tenor sax; Sacha Perry, piano; Neal Caine, bass; Charles Goold, drums 

Smalls SRCD-0019 (CD). 2006. Luke Kaven, prod., eng. DDD. TT: 76:24 


Sonics ★★★ 1 ⁄2 

GRANT STEWART: In the Still of the Night 

Grant Stewart, tenor sax; Tardo Hammer, piano; Peter Washington, bass; Joe 

Farnsworth, drums 

Sharp Nine SHP 1038-2 (CD). 2007. Marc Edelman, prod.; Joe Marciano, eng. 

DDD. TT: 60:25 


Sonics ★★★★ 1 ⁄2 

Why put these three albums together? Because Chris 

Byars, Ned Goold, and Grant Stewart are three of 

the best tenor-sax players you’ve never heard. 

They have other qualities in common. They all 

learned their craft at Smalls, the underground Greenwich 

Village club whose capacity is tiny and whose influence has 

been huge. They all sound like stylistic conservatives, with 

tones on the lighter side of the soft/hard tenor-sax spectrum. 

And each is more modern than he at first seems. 

Chris Byars, though 36, is spiritually at home in music from 

the middle of the last century, by such people as Lucky 


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Thompson and Gigi Gryce. He is an 

instantly likable player because of his 

sweet, sensuous sound on his three saxophones 

(he also plays alto and soprano), 

and the agile grace with which his ideas 

flow. But the more you listen to Byars, 

the more you hear the subtle tension 

between his surface smoothness and the 

underlying complexity of his chord 

movements, phrase lengths, accents, and 

intervals. His amiable traditional aesthetic 

is refracted through postmodern relativities 

of form. 

Photos in Black, White and Gray contains 

all Byars originals. His writing, like 

his playing, is meticulous, sophisticated, 

and deceptive. Byars the composer creates 

sinuous lines (“Riddle of the 

Sphinx”) and dancing, elegant celebrations 

(“Manhattan Valley”) that sound as 

inevitable and complete as any jazz standard—and 

then Byars the improviser 

reveals their ambiguities and improves 

on them. He is supported here by three 

exceptional players associated with the 

Smalls scene, pianist Sacha Perry (whose 

blockiness is the perfect counterpoise to 

Byars’ suave polish), Ari Roland (perhaps 

the best arco bass soloist in jazz), 

and dialed-in drummer Andy Watson. 

If Chris Byars is tricky, Ned Goold is 

fully enigmatic. As with every stylistic 

innovator, it’s easiest to hear what 

Goold is doing when he plays a standard. 

Over the nine minutes of “What 

Is This Thing Called Love?,” his phrases, 

broken into fragments in odd places, 

configure a wildly imaginative abstraction 

of Cole Porter. Yet his breathy tone 

and even, rolling beat suggest that this is 

cool/bop business as usual. 

It is not. The way Goold functions 

in relation to chord changes is unique. 

His note choices are constantly unexpected, 

and he does not play licks or 

clichés. Someday someone will write a 

technical treatise on the musical language 

that Goold has invented, and it 

will probably involve theoretical elements 

like synthetic scales with indeterminate 

tonality, retrogressive harmony 

(which is why he sometimes 

sounds like a man falling upstairs), and 

intricate counterintuitive syncopation 

patterns. Until then, the most important 

fact about Goold is that he uses his 

language to create fascinating, stunningly 

fresh, internally logical designs 

with a strange beauty all their own. His 

music epitomizes Whitney Balliet’s 

famous description of jazz as “the 

sound of surprise.” 

Luke Kaven’s Smalls label has become 

invaluable by documenting the work of 


important, underappreciated artists such 

as Byars and Goold. While Kaven is a 

self-taught engineer on a limited budget, 

his sonic quality is adequate and keeps 

improving. The Byars album is the bestsounding 

Smalls release to date. 

Marc Edelman, who runs the independent 

Sharp Nine label, is probably 

not rolling in liquidity either, but he’s 

able to use engineer Joe Marciano at 

Systems Two studio in Brooklyn, and 

the sonic superiority is dramatic. 

Systems Two is becoming so popular 

that there may be a danger of too many 

jazz albums sounding alike. It would be 

a high-class problem if too many jazz 

albums sounded this vivid and alive. 

Does Grant Stewart’s tenor sax have 

more sheer power, more nuanced 

interpretive complexity, or is it simply 

that he’s so much better recorded? 

Whichever, Stewart is a monster. On 

the opening, title track of In the Still of 

the Night, he erupts in an adrenaline 

burst of creative energy. Having started 

fast, Stewart then doubles it and flies, 

every note articulate. 

Though the most conventional of 

these three players, Stewart belongs here 

because, even when he plays a piece as 

exhaustively explored as “Lush Life,” he 

makes its truths sound new and absolutely 

urgent. He hits so hard on Billy 

Strayhorn’s spilling lines, yet keeps their 

poetry. Stewart’s passion to communicate 

makes it hard for him to stay slow on ballads. 

He tries on “Autumn in New York,” 

but soon his passion overwhelms it. 

“Theme for Ernie,” “Wives and Lovers,” 

and “If Ever I Would Leave You” never 

have a chance to remain ballads. With 

rushes of new ideas, Stewart manhandles 

them all. 

Stewart’s contemporary relevance 

occurs within the 50-year framework 

of hard bop, thereby revealing that 

genre’s infinite capacity for self-renewal 

and creative variation. His clarion 

sound and command recall Sonny 

Rollins, but Stewart’s chops put him on 

a special level. He is not an imitator, but 

an artist who further illuminates and 

even expands the domain of expression 

first opened by Rollins. 

Pianist Tardo Hammer is right there 

with Stewart on this album, which is 

to say that he plays hard indeed. 

—Thomas Conrad 

FOLLOW-UP 

Continued from p.117 

spanned most of a year and several 

iterations of associated equipment, I 

was consistently aware of and 

impressed by the Series II’s performance 

at the frequency extremes. It 

seemed to have a slightly cooler tonal 

balance than the Series I, though the 

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money, after hearing the Series II I’d 

be hard-pressed to label either as the 

“more correct.” The II’s dynamics also 

seemed to increase as frequencies rose 

across the upper midrange and lower 

treble, giving it a more forward presentation 

and a boldness that, with unfortunate 

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tonal balance, however, this more forward 

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Most noticeably, the Series II had, 

overall, a fast, open, powerful sound 

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maybe I’d gotten so used to the 

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absorbed the Series II’s improvements 

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the II’s improvements did away with. I 

don’t yet have an answer, just the seemingly 

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while the original TL-7.5 didn’t sound at 

all, the Series II sounds better—and in 

some cases, significantly so. 

VTL’s original TL-7.5 line stage was 

a benchmark product when introduced, 

and remains one today. The 

Series II is another step in its evolution, 

though in exactly what direction, 

I’m not sure. The update unquestionably 

offers the sonic benefits of speed, 

openness, and improved dynamics at 

the frequency extremes. VTL’s 

rethinking of the initial gain stage 

reveals a new path to improved performance, 

but I’m not sure that path 

has yet been followed to its end. 

While the TL-7.5 Series II is a fantastic 

audio component in and of itself, it 

also underscores the magnitude of 

VTL’s achievement in the original TL- 

7.5, and suggests that that achievement 

will be hard to definitively eclipse— 

even by VTL itself. —Brian Damkroger 


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MANUFACTURERS’COMMENTS 

Kuzma Stabi XL and Airline 

Editor: 

We at Elite AudioVideo Distribution 

would like to thank Michael Fremer for 

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tonearm [April 2007]. The fact that 

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level, so that the Airline arm can be 

brought to the precise point where it needs 

to be for correct balance and tracking ability—this 

is common to all straight-tracking 

arms. Also, the current Finite Elemente 

wall platform Fremer mentions will not 

take the weight of the XL, so that one is 

unfortunately not suitable. Any wallmounted 

platform used with the XL 

should have a load capability of at least 250 

lbs, to ensure that there is no question of 

strength, especially if a granite slab or other 

massive shelf is to be used. Also, Finite Elemente 

will soon release a special, heavyduty 

version of its floorstanding equipment 

stand specifically for the Stabi XL. 

The temptation to launch into further 

discussion/debate over the merits of 

microporous air bearings vs groove-compensated 

ones is strong, but we will 

avoid it here, as we feel that the Kuzma 

design is very well optimized for playing 

records, and literally “speaks for itself” in 

terms of resolution of detail, transparency, 

transient attack behavior, and lack of 

commonly accepted resonant interactions 

with phono cartridges. 

As for cartridge performance in the 

Airline arm, we feel, as does the manufacturer, 

that because of the extremely 

low level of any bass coloration when 

interacting with a given cartridge, the 

Airline is so utterly revealing of the true 

natures of cartridges that it occasionally 

will find one that is not well suited to it. 

In the glory days of analog it was widely 

accepted that, because of known resonant 

interactions between arms and cartridges 

of different designs, mainly in the 

bass region, one had to take reasonable 

care in matching these components. It is 

no different today, and the bottom line is 

that the Airline is simply not the right 

vehicle for some cartridges, including, it 

seems, some of the latest Lyra designs. 

On the other hand, Fremer reports that 

the combination of the Airline and the 

newest Air Tight PC-1 was “stunning,” 

suggesting that the PC-1’s design is 

exceptionally well thought out and 

essentially devoid of interactive resonant 

colorations with the Airline. May I also 

suggest Koetsu, ZYX, and the newest 

London, Cardas Heart, and Benz Ruby 

cartridges, as well as various models 

from Transfiguration, Dynavector, 

Miyabi, Clearaudio, and vdH, all excellent 

matches with the Airline? 

In conjunction with this, it must be 

firmly noted that the intrinsically low 

level of any kind of conventional groove 

signal-tracking distortion that is realized 

when using a high-pressure, extremely 

rigid, air-bearing, straight-line-tracking 

tonearm such as the Airline is a substantial 

improvement in almost every way 

over any kind of fixed-pivot arm. It is an 

inescapable fact that, even if the tracing 

radius of a given pivoted arm is 

increased hugely, well past the point of 

being practical for use on a modern 

turntable, it is still an arc rather than a 

line, and will have some level of measurable 

distortion over most of the side of a 

given LP; whereas a properly configured 

straight-line arm will never deviate from 

the geometry of how the original master 

lacquer was originally engraved, thus 

providing an exceptionally high level of 

fidelity to the groove’s signals. 

We would like to close by once again 

thanking Mr. Fremer and Stereophile 

magazine for the review of the Kuzma 

Stabi XL turntable and Airline tonearm. 

Scot Markwell, Peder Beckman, Mike Hobson 

Elite AudioVideo Distribution 

Franc Kuzma 

Kuzma Ltd. 

Luminance KST-150 

Editor: 

On behalf of my business partners, Rick 

Schultz and Mike Tseng, I would like to 

thank Sam Tellig for his observationally 

insightful review of the KST-150 amplifier. 

There are a couple of elaborations I 

would like to make at this time. 

Sam correctly points out the KST- 

150’s output-current limitation, and that 

the user should be careful to avoid loudspeaker 

loads in which the nominal 

impedance is rated below 3 ohms, as 

stated in our literature. It is permissible 

for the high-frequency load impedance 

to drop to as low as 1.5 ohms, since the 

power demand at higher frequencies, 

where electrostatic speakers have significantly 

lower impedance ratings, is within 

the rated maximum current tolerance 

for the Hitachi MOSFET output devices 

that we incorporate. 

It is our desire at Luminance to help 

foster on our website an opportunity for 

communicative dialog that includes audiophiles, 

designers, and reviewers, as well as 

anyone else who wishes to freely and 

openly investigate techniques of measurement 

and their correspondent effects on 

the listening experience. We plan on 

releasing a number of technical articles by 

a variety of sources who wish to contribute 

to the ongoing knowledge and 

awareness of various design-philosophy 

etiologies, and provide a constructive 

medium in which individuals of widely 

diverse backgrounds can freely disperse 

the results of their experience in the 

design and evaluation of different 

approaches as may become evident as the 

industry moves forward. Please check 

Luminance’s website for the scheduling of 

upcoming forum “chat sites” that will 

facilitate these offerings. Steve Keiser 

Design Engineer, Luminance Audio 

VPI HW-27 Typhoon 

Editor: 

I would like to thank Michael Fremer 

for being a loyal HW-17 record-cleaner 

owner and for reviewing our latest and 

best record cleaner, the Typhoon. The 

Typhoon was designed to be the most 

powerful record-cleaning machine on 

the planet, and we have the specs to 

back that up. The vacuum motor used in 

the Typhoon can lift a column of mercury 

over 110", yet it is 6dB quieter (the 

motor maker’s spec, not ours) than the 

HW-17’s vacuum motor. 

In my own system, I have heard information 

pulled from records cleaned on 

the Typhoon that I have never heard 

before, even from records that are 40 

years old and have been cleaned many, 

many times. I’m sorry Michael was 

unable to reproduce this, as the customer 

needs to know how these 

machines compare. 

Bottom line is, American workers who 

are paid real wages and get healthcare 

make the Typhoon in the USA. You get 

$2000 worth of cleaning machine without 

importers, distributors, shipping costs, etc., 

blowing the cost of the product totally out 

of proportion to what you are really getting. 

Harry Weisfeld 

VPI 

Joule Electra VZN-80 

Editor: 

At Joule Electra, we really enjoyed Art 

[Dudley]’s column on OTLs. It brought 


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MANUFACTURERS’ COMMENTS MANUFACTURERS’ COMMENTS 

MANUFACTURERS’ COMMENTS 

to mind that wonderful icon of audio, 

Harvey Rosenberg, who gave me, at a 

Consumer Electronics Show years back, 

a free copy of his book, which was 

loaded with insight into our chosen avocation. 

Art’s recounting of the birth and 

development of the OTL is worth reading 

on it own account. We are fortunate 

that it included a review of our smallest 

OTL, the VZN-80. 

Art heard just what my friend Carter 

Asbill and others heard as we were 

developing the VZN series of OTLs and 

the LA preamps. Timbral bouquet to 

flesh out the music and provide the 

dimension of reality to electrons in a 

vacuum—that is difficult to do. Art mentions 

that there might be “a little too 

much texture” at times, and we acknowledge 

that, though we do like tactility to 

our music. Our larger amps, for better 

or worse, tend to minimize this effect. 

All in all, we are loath to add anything to 

Art’s observations, and wish to thank the 

editors of Stereophile and Art Dudley for 

making us a part of this event. Jud Barber 

President, Joule Electra 

Rega P1 

Editor: 

[Essex Boys, with translations] 

Having a natter with Phil Freeman of 

Rega one day, I mentioned the idea of 

them building a record player that they 

would put their moniker on, rather than 

the OEM stuff built to just a strict price 

that they had done before. 

“I am talking quality kit [really good 

stereo equipment].” 

“Oh yeah,” says Phil. “And how much 

would this have to sell for?” 

“350,” I retort. “We want to make this 

the best entry player out there.” 

“That is the Queen’s folding [pounds 

sterling]?” asks Phil. 

“No, dollars.” A long silence ensues, 

during which I think I catch the words 

“The boy hasn’t been right since he left 

these shores,” but I could be imagining 

that. 

“Anything else?” asks Phil. 

“Yep, must be made in the UK, mate, 

you know how we are here, and bung 

on a cartridge, all ready to go.” 

“Like the Rega logo in gold leaf?” 

quips Phil. 

“You are going to have to pull out a 

wedge [large sum] of wonga [money] from 

your strides [trousers], mate, to get some 

volume going on this one,” says Phil. 

Hence, several months later, a large 

lorry [container truck] pulls up full of these 

beauties—more record players than you 

can imagine. As Art says, a truly affordable 

way to start getting going on vinyl. 

If you want to improve the P1, don’t 

have a Starbucks and muffin for a few 

days, and treat yourself to the P1 

upgrade kit: glass platter and thicker mat 

for $69. Get one for each of your 100 

friends you just bought P1s for. (You did 

follow Art’s advice—didn’t you?) 

Cheers. Steve Daniels 

The Sound Organisation 


Editor: 

All the people from Peak Consult would 

like to thank Stereophile for the good and 

thorough review of our loudspeaker, El 

Diablo. 

Thanks to Michael Fremer for 

describing the speakers and the sound 

that Peak Consult wishes to be known 

for. He perfectly described our product 

with understandable language for nonand 

audiophile persons. 

Thanks also to John Atkinson for 

making the measurements of our speakers 

and ending up with the conclusion 

that the Peaks had respectable measured 

performance, and still mention that we 

made El Diablo to achieve what we do 

and believe in. We have our sound and 

are very proud of that. Per Kristoffersen 

Peak Consult Int’l. 


Editor: 

We would like to thank Michael Fremer 

and John Atkinson for taking the time to 

review and measure Peak Consult’s El 

Diablo loudspeaker. 

“…like stepping out of a Ferrari and 

into a high-performance Bentley coupe.” 

With this one phrase, Michael Fremer 

demonstrated that he very aptly understands 

the Peak Consult approach. El 

Diablo is both a fairly conservative and a 

precision, high- performance design 

meant to be a complete performer. This 

required a very well-considered and 

meticulously derived balancing act. It 

needed to perform at a true reference 

level in a real-world acoustic space, and 

it needed to have a small footprint so as 

not to overwhelm the elegant spaces in 

which it would be installed. As a fullrange 

loudspeaker, it needed to sonically 

disappear, project lifelike images into a 

vast soundfield, and still deliver a complete 

reference-level performance. 

Michael quite keenly noticed that 

“The Diablo was extended and supple at 

both frequency extremes, providing 

exceptionally natural instrumental textures 

that were free of edge, brightness, 

or grain on top without sounding dull or 

uninvolving,” and that “instrumental and 

harmonic structures, and especially the 

human voice, were exceptionally lifelike 

and coherent.” Here Michael discovers 

what is at the heart of the Peak Consult 

“house sound,” and what makes El Dia- 

blo so very seductive. 

El Diablo is designed to be used in a 

home environment and will “blend in like 

the finely finished piece of furniture that 

it is, and its size and footprint would seem 

to make it an ideal candidate for the city 

sophisticate’s drawing room.” The performance 

of Peak Consult loudspeakers is 

tailored to be correct without the need for 

much (if any) acoustic treatment to the 

room, allowing the owner to display them 

with pride in a house’s main living space 

without being penalized when the stylus 

is finally dropped in the groove. 

John Atkinson opined quite expertly 

that “The Peak Consult El Diablo’s measured 

performance is very respectable,” 

and that “its balance appears to have 

been tailored to achieve a specific end 

result.” That specific end result is, as 

Michael observed, to be able “to provide 

long evenings’ worth of entertainment 

without producing boredom or fatigue” 

in real-world living environments. 

Michael concludes, “I spent three 

months with the Diablos and found 

them to be among the most capable and 

musically engaging speakers I’ve yet 

auditioned.” 

We’re delighted that you enjoyed the 

El Diablo loudspeaker. It is certainly a 

point of pride and a source of tremendous 

enjoyment in our collection. 

Chris Sommovigo 

Signals SuperFi, LLC 

VTL TL-7.5 Reference Series II 

Editor: 

Bea and I would like to sincerely thank 

Brian Damkroger for his comments 

about the differences between the original 

and Series II incarnations of our TL- 

7.5 Reference Linestage Preamplifier. 

Building upon the widely acknowledged 

solid foundation of the original 

version, the many sonic improvements 

of the Series II and its greatly enhanced 

ability to portray tonal colors, timbre of 

instruments, and its ability to resolve 

micro-level details are much prized by 

customers who have heard both versions. 

Part of this is due to the use of a 

12AU7 in the amplifying stage, which 

lowers the overall gain (and with it the 

background noise), revealing even more 

of the musical picture, and making the 

TL-7.5 Series II an excellent match in an 

even wider variety of systems. 

The superior ability of the Series II to 

portray tonal coloring (as distinct from 

intrinsic coloration) is much prized by 

true music lovers, and we believe that at 

the Reference level enhancements in 

these critical listening attributes is what 

helps to bring reproduced music that 

much closer to the live experience. 

Luke Manley & Bea Lam 


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The New Sound 

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We invite you to visit 

our new facility that offers 

four unique listening rooms 

in a relaxed atmosphere, 

featuring high performance 

products from the 

following manufacturers: 

Acoustic Zen 

Vienna Acoustics 

VMPS • Coincident 

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Acoustic Sounds 112-113, 124 

Acoustic Zen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 

Art Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 

Atoll Electronique . . . . . . . 87 

Audio Concepts. . . . . . . . 120 

Audio Connection . . . . . 128 

Audio Plus Services . . . . . C4 

Audioengine . . . . . . . . . . 132 

AudioQuest. . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 

Audiowaves . . . . . . . . . . . 126 

Basis Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 

BC Acoustique . . . . . . . . . . 31 

Benchmark. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 

Cable Company . . . . . . . 118 

Canton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 

Cary Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Classe Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . 72 

Coincident . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 

Crystal Cable. . . . . . . . . . . . C3 

CSA Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 

Dali Loudspeakers . . . . . . 44 

David Lewis Audio . . . . . 114 

Dynaudio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 

Echo Busters. . . . . . . . . . . . 35 

Elusive Disc . . . . . . . . . 14, 88 

Fidelis Audio. . . . . . . . . . . 135 

Furman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 

Gallo Acoustic. . . . . . . . . . . 78 

Gamut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 

Gateway Sound. . . . . . . . 134 

Goodwin’s High End . . . 110 

Hansen Audio . . . . . . . . . . C2 

HCM Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . 122 

HeadRoom . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

High Water Sound . . . . . 133 

Immedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 

Joseph Audio . . . . . . . . . . . 96 

JPS Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 

JS Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 

JVC Professional. . . . . . . . . 16 

KEF. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 

Kimber Kable . . . . . . . . . . . 90 

DEALERS’ SHOWCASE 

ADVERTISING 

ADVERTISER INDEX 

Krell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 

Magico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 

Manley Labs . . . . . . . . . . . 133 

Meridian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 

Merlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 

Mitek. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 

Montana Loudspeakers . 94 

Music Direct. . . . . . 28-29, 64 

Musical Sounds . . . . . . . . . 38 

Musical Surroundings . . 116 

Musikmatters . . . . . . . . . . . 58 

Nagra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 

Needle Doctor . . . . . . . . . . 38 

NHT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Nordost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 

Opera Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . 84 

Overture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 

Park Avenue . . . . . . . . . . 108 

Pass Laboratories. . . . . . . . 84 

PS Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 

Real Traps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 

Reference 3A . . . . . . . . . . . 66 

Reno Hi-Fi . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134 

Sanus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Shunyata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 

Siltech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 

Simaudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Sound By Singer . . . . . 98-99 

Sumiko. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 

Totem Acoustics. . . . . . . . 6, 7 

United Home Audio. . . . . . 134 

Upscale Audio 82-83,97,107 

VAS Industries. . . . . . . . . . . 42 

Velodyne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Wavelength Audio . . . . . 133 

WBT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 

Weinhart Design . . . . . . . 135 

Wilson Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

YG Acoustics . . . . . . . . . 24 

ZVOX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128 

Information listed in this index is done so as a courtesy. Publisher is not liable for incorrect information or excluded listings. Advertisers should contact their sales representative to correct 

or update listing. 

Stereophile (ISSN: 0585-2544) Vol.30 No.5, May 2007, Issue Number 328. Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Published monthly by PRIMEDIA, Specialty Group, Inc., 6420 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 

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The deadline for the July 2007 issue 

is May 1, 2007. 

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Branford Marsalis understands 

why the nation has made 

rebuilding New Orleans a second 

or even third priority. 

“I kind of understand it on one 

hand. Not only the administration, 

but all the people in Congress who 

signed off on this war, this is the legacy 

that will define them, regardless of what 

happens in New Orleans. They realize 

that, ultimately, when the history books 

are written, there might be a book on 

how Congress and the administration let 

down the Gulf Coast—maybe one. 

There’ll be 25 books on Iraq and the ramifications 

of all the disastrous foreign-policy 

mistakes. Before [Bush] leaves, I think 

he has a vested interest in righting the 

ship, which is why all of a sudden there is 

detente with North Korea, talking to 

Iran, adult-type things that didn’t happen 

in the first six years. And New Orleans is 

just not a priority in the face of that, 

which is a disaster of his own making.” 

But this New Orleans native knows 

his hometown well enough to know that 

it’s not just Bush and Congress that are to 

blame for the fact that the city continues 

to teeter on the edge of social and economic 

collapse. 

“It’s a pile of things, man, that makes 

New Orleans special. One of them is 

that when you go there, you are literally 

thrown back in time. People love that, 

but there’s also a mentality that goes 

with that. In order for things to be a 

throwback in time, people have to be in 

the stone age—they have to be—otherwise 

it’s not. 

“New Orleans doesn’t give a shit 

about itself. We call it ‘the city that care 

forgot.’ That’s what we call it. I mean we 

don’t care. The rampant amounts of corruption 

that occurred…New Orleans 

has corruption that is, in a lot of 

respects, with the exception of maybe 

the murder of politicians, right up there 

with Tammany Hall. And the United 

States and, ultimately, New Yorkers 

were tired of that shit, and they ran Boss 

Tweed out of town. 

“There were people, in NOLA, who 

thought corruption was endearing, and 

now they see the stepchild of all of that 

stuff, and now it’s not so funny. Now the 

catastrophe has kind of opened the curtain 

to all the unsavory stuff that goes on in the 

city. But that doesn’t mean that all of the 

people who have considerably benefited 

from the high levels of corruption are just 

AURAL ROBERT 

Robert Baird 

A Change is Gonna Come? 

going to lie down.” 

Marsalis is doing 

his part to rebuild 

NOLA, first as a 

spokesman and fundraiser 

(along with 

Harry Connick, Jr.) 

for homebuilders, 

Habitat for Humanity, 

and the Musicians 

Village Project, 

which is building 

housing for musicians 

made homeless 

by Hurricane Katrina. 

His label, Marsalis 

Music, has just released new records by 

two veteran New Orleans players who’ve 

remained in the city, clarinetist Alvin 

Batiste and drummer Bob French. 

The first record, Marsalis Music Honors 

Alvin Batiste, Batiste’s first record in a 

decade, is solidly modern jazz—a postbop 

album from one of the few NOLA 

musicians to have ever made a living 

playing something other than Preservation 

Hall-styled New Orleans trad music, 

its low-brow, mostly white offspring, 

Dixieland, or, worst of all, the pop/jazz 

garbage you hear today booming out of 

the bars on Bourbon Street. A composer 

as well as player, Batiste jammed with 

Ornette Coleman in L.A. in the 1950s, 

and played gigs with Guitar Slim back in 

New Orleans. The band on MMH Alvin 

Batiste is a mix of younger, lesser-known 

Louisiana players, such as pianist 

Lawrence Field, bassist Ricardo 

Rodriguez, and two former students of 

Batiste, who’s taught music at Southern 

University since 1969: drummer Herlin 

Riley, and Marsalis himself on soprano 

saxophone. 

“Bat chased me out of Louisiana and 

sent me to Boston because he realized 

very early on that I didn’t need much 

encouragement to become not serious,” 

Marsalis says in a tired croak. He’s in 

Amsterdam, nearing the end of a string 

of European one-nighters. “At a school 

like Southern University, if you can 

play Grover Washington’s solo on ‘Mr. 

Magic,’ you’re like a star. That was 

never very difficult for me to do that. 

So I eschewed the more difficult tasks 

assigned to me because the honeys 

liked Grover. 

“Bat said, ‘Man, you gotta go.’ He 

called my father [Ellis Marsalis] and said, 

‘If I see him here next year, I’m flunking 

him.’ Staying 

there would 

have been a 

dead end for 

me. He was 

right.” 

Also selftitled, 

Marsalis 

Music Honors Bob 

French is an 

easygoing runthrough 

of 

New Orleans 

trad music, and 

includes such 

stone Crescent 

City classics as “Basin Street Blues,” 

“Way Down Yonder in New Orleans,” 

“When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” 

and “Do You Know What It Means to 

Miss New Orleans.” The track list’s Pops 

slant is deliberate: French’s great-uncle 

Maurice played trombone in Armstrong’s 

band. French’s own band is 

another mix of younger NOLA players— 

trumpeter Leon “Kid Chocolate” Brown 

and Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews— 

and veterans like Branford and fellow 

New Orleanian Connick, Jr. 

French began his career in a high 

school band that included piano great 

James Booker, Art and Charles Neville 

of the Neville Brothers, and Alvin 

Batiste. Ellis Marsalis played traditional 

music in French’s band for years when 

Branford and his brother Wynton were 

kids. One night, the Marsalis brothers 

were invited onstage. 

“Yeah, but I sucked; I was just playing 

to play. When you’re eight or nine years 

old, you get a free pass. And then, by the 

time you’re 15, all the New Orleans 

guys are like, ‘Don’t come on this stage 

bullshittin’.” 

Both albums feature a careful 

approach to sound that Branford, who by 

now is anxious to wrap up and crawl into 

bed for a pre-show nap, rallies to explain. 

“One thing that we do that separates 

us from other jazz labels is that we focus 

our money on making the records completely 

representative of how musicians 

actually sound at a given point in time. If 

you listen to a lot of acoustic records, 

they tend to be very thin, they use a lot of 

compression, and the musicians record in 

very small rooms—which works in electric 

music, but it’s death in acoustic 

music. We spare no expense to make the 

sound quality great.” ■■

home entertainment 2007

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