Reimyo CAT-777 MK II and KAP-777 [pdf] - Harmonix by Combak

have been “twisted and turned” by theuse of circuitry. After all, I have heardmy share of tube-like solid-state poweramplifiers. One of the big things Imissed with these was transparency, asthey all seemed faintly opaque sounding.On the other hand, and when fullypushed, the JA 80s don’t sound“tubular,” but neutral at best. Here onehas simply arrived at an almost identicaland pristine ideal in terms of sound. Butwait! The associated Harmonix powercord has not yet been connected.And the manner in which the KAP-777 captures the musical structure ofGustav Leonhardt’s Zell harpsichord,through which the unleashed energy ofthis – Bach’s perhaps most unconstrained– composition fascinates byhow closely it approaches the free reinof Miles Davis’ creative power (acrossthe centuries, so to speak), is just asastonishing with this Reimyo as are thisdevice’s sonic capabilities. Finally, thepower cord has been replaced with theXDC-350M2R, which is included withthe amplifier that was designed to use it.And sure enough: now that last iota ofimmediacy is also there and, which indirect comparison, sounds even morenatural than before. Although thisdistinction – one that can be bothdescribed and objectified – may notseem very significant when taking aquick listen, it does set off aphenomenon that may prove addictivewhen playing the finest of recordings:the feeling of no longer listening to arecording, but being a witness to acreative process. Not only does thisphenomenon have to do with timecoherence, but with a complete and uttersense of consistency and integrity of theenergy being transmitted. And for thosewho find this description rather disingenuous: It is precisely thatwhich permits a total concentration on the music without actuallyhaving to put your mind to it, or needing to listen around orthrough something.Béla Bartók’s String Quartet No. 3 provides an impressiveexample of this. The recording by the Fine Arts Quartet (SagaRecords XID 5204) demonstrates all the difficulties – from itsmusical expressiveness to the melodic escapades – inherent inthis work. You can hear the glissandi and the crystalline way thepassages are played, along with the hard pizzicati and the soundsgenerated with the stick of the bow. In addition to that, the rurallife and folk culture motifs, which Bartók elsewhere uses tocaptivate his listeners, appear here almost exclusively as mererhythmic figures. But with an amplifier of such a class as theReimyo KAP-777, these difficulties seem to become quite theopposite: Its intimate, unadulterated and entirely effortlessmanner of operation fully emancipates this music’s sensory andphysical attributes and overwhelms the listener with Bartók’spassion. Terms such as complicated and arduous, which neverfail to obtrude when such music is played on bad systems or asthe result of second-rate renditions, yield to the impression ofmusic that can only be described as original, authentic andpowerful. Just as it does with selections by Miles Davis and Bach,this amplifier succeeds in capturing the music in all its rhythmic,corporeal, spatial and melodic levels of expression, and at thatinstant makes it come alive and in turn immediately intelligible.Whenever you have the opportunity of reviewing anexceptional product from Kazuo Kiuchi, you naturally also wantto report about how he arrived at his results. And yet evasiveanswers always make your efforts in vain – he generally steersclear of providing any information about technical details. But inthe case of the KAP-777 he did allow a glimpse into thedevelopment process: The amplifier originated mostly fromwithin the JVC studios, where he himself also does his masteringwork. Instead of modeling it using existing software, he and hisstaff were able to build on the knowledge of original soundsources and draw on a wealth of listening material in which hehimself was involved in recording and mastering. The amplifiercame about over a very long period of time – long enough as wasnecessary for it to reproduce the original performance as thoughit were live. In the end, said Kiuchi-san, he had created exactlythat power amplifier with a completely balanced signal across theentire frequency range he had been dreaming about for years.This engineering effort was fostered by the desire to create as62 image-hifi.com 1/2013