Specs & Pricing

Letters
magazine critics feel inclined or may be able anymore to judge recordings
by the highest sonic standards. (But, back when magazines like High Fidelity
and Hi-Fi Review were young, the sonic standards that had to be met were
tough, which of course produced trauma in the advertising departments of
said publications. So the standards slipped.)
On the other hand, in using recordings to assess equipment, the reviewer
faces a different standard—that is, one of truth to the sound of an orchestra
playing in a hall, what we here call the absolute, because it is an absolute
reference (no matter how many jackasses say it is not and that there is no such
thing). Worse, that reference is being ignored by the overwhelming majority
of today’s equipment reviewers: thus, the emphasis on “flavors” of sound,
and the reviewer’s “emotional” reaction to chocolate, vanilla, and Rocky
Road. Audiophile recordings sometimes do contain treasures, particularly
from young rising artists, but, in years past, too many of them were genuinely
slapdash affairs.
I try to find interesting and illuminating performances to use as reference (I
have to listen to them over and over again, so...).
A Jungian “Slip”
HP:
Your article seems to suggest that Yoshi Segoshi is the owner of 47
Laboratory, and “Jungi” (was the use of Jungi a misprint) merely the
designer. In actual fact, Gunji is the owner of 47 Laboratory, as well as
being the designer. Yoshi is the North American distributor only.
Martin Grennal
47 Laboratory U.K.
Perhaps I misunderstood Mr. Segoshi; perhaps I did not. The misspelling of
“Jungi” was not my error.
Old Gold versus the New
HP:
I’ve been an audio druggie since the beginning of the 60s….My question
is: In the scheme of high-end speakers, where do the older speakers fit in
with the new stuff For example, Nola, JM Labs, MBL, the Maggies, Wilson
are the current state of the art.
How would or where would the Pipedreams or Piegas fit in The reason
I ask is that there are some fantastic buys on some of the older stuff…Can
the older gear compete with the new
PS: This might be an interesting article in the future.
Gerald G. Ouellette
One of the great weaknesses in the kind of reviewing we do lies in our
collective failure to do just what you suggest and that is to keep several
sets of these oldie-goldie designs on hand as a yardstick to measure the
current “so-called” advances in equipment design. Methinks, back yonder,
the tubed electronic gear from Marantz, McIntosh and Dyna would not
have been so quickly passed over for the said-to-be sexier solid-state
designs. Mostly this is an economic affair. Audio magazines are not
overflowing with the kind of resources necessary to buy, maintain, and
store older equipment. Nor do they have an economic incentive so to do
(the ads, lest we forget, are not for last year’s models).
I can only recall what a speaker, for example, may have sounded like
without having it on hand for a detailed cross-examination, but I could
recommend the Pipedreams as the equal of several of the speakers you
list. I had to look up the Piegas, unknown to me till now, only to find
this Swiss firm has only been in the U.S. for five years, which hardly puts
their work in the oldey-fogey category. (A tease: A new version of the
Pipedreams is in the works.)
Upcoming in TAS
• Product of the Year Awards
• Wilson Benesch Torus
Infrasonic Generator
—that’s a subwoofer, folks!
• A roundtable with subwoofers designers
• Cayin A-88T integrated amp and SCD‐50T
SACD player
• MartinLogan Vista loudspeaker
• Pathos Endorphin CD player
• ProAc Studio 140 loudspeaker
• Marantz TT-15 turntable
• Definitive Pro Cinema 1000 multichannel
speaker system
• Bolzano Villetri Torre speaker and
subwoofer
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10 December 2006 The Absolute Sound