Contents

Letters
More on MAGICO
I’ve read Jonathan’s Magico review a couple of times over. One item of
curiosity for prospective purchasers like myself with small rooms: Can
we get far enough away from the speakers for the drivers to integrate
properly What was/is JV’s listening distance or range of listening distances
of choice
Kevin Kwann
JV replies: In a room that is roughly 17.5' x 16' x 10' I sat anywhere from
8' to 10.5' away from the Minis, which were themselves about 3' 5" from
the backwalls (measuring from the rear of the Minis’ enclosures) and
about 3' 4" away from sidewalls (measuring from the outside middle of
the Minis’ enclosures). The Minis’ drivers blended perfectly at any and all
of my listening positions. (I preferred about 8.5' for the greater sense of
immersiveness.)
Focus on Music
Thanks so much for Derk Richardson’s article on free-jazz guitarists in
last month’s issue. I now have a road map for several months of musical
purchases.
The inclusion of Sonny Sharrock in the article brought a nostalgic smile to
my face. On a late night in 1988 I was lying in the trunk of a Jetta installing a
car stereo when the local community radio station (KBOO) put on Sharrock’s
Guitar and let it play through. At the time I was twenty-something, playing
guitar in a couple of fairly experimental rock bands, and heavily influenced
by guitarists whom I naively thought represented the exploratory edge of the
rock-guitar hinterlands (Hendrix, Garcia, Zappa, etc.). Sharrock opened my
eyes to what might best be described as an alternative universe of possibility
using the guitar as a musical tool—a change in perception akin to the switch
from black-and-white to color in the Wizard of Oz. I spent the next 18 months
searching record store bins looking for Guitar. (No instant gratification of
search and buy on the Internet back then!) I highly recommend this record,
particularly to students of the guitar, as a potentially life-altering bit of art and
tour de force of unique virtuosity.
Bravo for your focus on music. The search for the absolute sound is in part
about the playback equipment. It should also be open to the opportunity
for epiphanies like the one I had in a car trunk all those years ago.
Spot On
Steve Claussen
Aquick note to say that Robert Harley’s review of the Mark Levinson
Nº 326s [Issue 162] was spot on. As a jaded audiophile who reads the
reviews with some reservation I must say that RH called it as I have
experienced it. I purchased a 326s to replace the “awesome” Audio Research
Reference 3 expecting the 326s to be flat (no depth) and boring among other
things. I personally can’t think of one thing about the Ref. 3 that I prefer and I
never thought I’d say that about a piece of solid-state gear. I don’t know what
magic Mark Levinson put in this unit but it is very good. Rumor has it that those
in the know prefer it to the No. 32. Anyway thanks again for a great “tip,” and
keep up the good work!
BTW, I’m using Wilson Sophia 2s and think they, too, are incredible.
Tim Wilson
OF MAGNETS &
TURNTABLES
In your last issue, HP states that the two new turntables from
EAR and Blue Pearl use new technology. The newly implemented
magnetic suspension, and more importantly magnetic drive,
have been used in turntable design and manufacture before!
I only know this as, several months ago, I purchased via eBay a
“Magnafloat” TEAC turntable from the 70s. Right now I am having
it mounted on a custom-designed plinth. It will have the ability to
mount an arm of choice. Anyway, just a little-known fact for you.
Robin Wyatt
Robyatt Audio
HP replies: I didn’t use that exact phrase, nor did I intend to.
There was much more I could have said about the use of magnets
in turntable design, which I didn’t (space and time limitations),
although neither I nor anyone else I know of writing about the high
end ever heard of that specific and long-since-discontinued TEAC
turntable.
“What is ‘new’ is the sudden
mini-boomlet in the use of
magnets in ’table design...”
More seriously, Mr. Wyatt fails to mention just how magnets
were used in the table: Was it in the bearings (as in the French
Verdier and English Blue Pearl), or was it, and much more unlikely,
as a magnetic drive, which was not a first in the case of the EAR
turntable I reviewed. (A small one-man shop in Britain beat EAR to
the punch. Clearaudio, whose table is now available at more than
five times the cost of the EAR, was then being developed.) Frankly,
given the state of magnet technology almost four decades ago, I
would be surprised if the TEAC application was either extensive or
practical. It certainly did not, as far as we know, breed imitators.
What is “new” is the sudden mini-boomlet in the use of magnets
in ’table design and that, a point I was trying to make clear, is
potentially revolutionary.
Upcoming in TAS
• Feature & Roundtable on Class D Amplifiers
• Chapter Précis integrated amp
• Ascendo M loudspeaker
• NAD 720BEE receiver
• Stirling LS3/5a loudspeaker
• Eben X3 loudspeaker
October 2006 The Absolute Sound