ARVO PÄRT In Principio
In Principio, La Sindone, Cecilia, vergine romana, Da Pacem Domine, Mein Weg, Fur Lennart in memoriam.
Tõnu Kaljuste, Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
ECM New Series 2050 (CD). 2009. Manfred Eicher, prod.; Teije van Geest, Margho Kolar, engs. DDD. TT: 70:44
Performance *****
Sonics *****
In the stew of musical treasures to be found in the ever-expanding world of YouTube.com is a film of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt being interviewed in herky-jerky fashion by none other than that…
You've seen the ads from YG Acoustics: "The best loudspeaker on Earth. Period." It sounds arrogant. But come on—high-end audio has never been a field of shrinking violets. When Ivor Tiefenbrun of Linn announced that the turntable, not the cartridge or loudspeakers, dictated the sound quality of an audio system, that was a man convinced that he was right and taking on the world. And was Krell's Dan D'Agostino any less arrogant when, in 1980, he introduced the KSA-100 power amplifier? In a world where small size and high wattage were the norms, didn't it take a pair of big brass 'uns to bring…
And cables themselves? Puh-leeze—let's not even go there. One afternoon, VTL's Luke Manley, my friend Jeff Wong, and I were playing silly audiophile tricks. We substituted Shunyata Research Python Helix Alpha AC cables for the stock pair feeding the Anat Professional's powered subwoofers. I expected to hear little difference, possibly none at all. Au contraire—the bass was audibly better integrated with the rest of the audioband. And another of my certainties bit the dust.
As the French would say, "de trop"
I initially auditioned the Anat Reference II Professionals with the VTL TL-6…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: As reviewed, three-piece, three-way, modular, floorstanding loudspeaker with powered subwoofer. Drive-units: 1" silk-dome tweeter, two 6" paper-cone midrange units, 10" carbon/paper-cone passive subwoofer, 10" carbon/paper-cone powered subwoofer. Crossover Frequency (Main Module): 1.75kHz. Frequency range: <20Hz–>40kHz. Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, –0.7dB. Channel matching: within ±0.2dB. Impedance: 4 ohms nominal, 2.7 ohms minimum. Sensitivity: 92dB/2.83V/m. Subwoofer amplifier: 800Wpc, class-A/B.
Dimensions: Main Module: 20" (500mm) H…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Ayre C-5xe universal player, Ayre CX-7e CD player.
Preamplifiers: Ayre KX-R, Parasound Halo JC 2, VTL TL-6.5 Signature.
Power Amplifiers: Moscode 402au, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300, Parasound Halo JC 1, VTL MB-450 II.
Cables: Interconnect: AudioQuest William E. Low Signature, Shunyata Research Aeros (single-ended, RCA), Stealth Metacarbon (balanced). Speaker: AudioQuest William E. Low Signature, Shunyata Research Aeros, Stealth Dream. AC: Shunyata Research Python Helix Alpha.
Accessories: Ayre Myrtle wood blocks; Ayre L-5xe…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I measured the YG Acoustics Anat Reference II Professional's behavior mainly using DRA Labs' MLSSA system with a calibrated DPA microphone and an Earthworks Zero Distortion preamplifier. Because of the bulk and mass of the two woofer sections, I could perform a complete set of acoustics measurements only on the 108-lb upper-frequency Main Module. The woofer measurements were performed in situ in Wes Phillips' listening room, as was my reading of the speakers' spatially averaged response. For these measurements I used SMUG Software's FuzzMeasure 2 running on an…
I was having breakfast in my hotel room on December 13, 2008, finally getting down to preparing the presentation I was to give at the Los Angeles and Orange County Audio Society scant hours later (footnote 1). I procrastinated a little more by checking my e-mail one more time. The message from Ivor Humphreys, once my deputy editor at the UK's Hi-Fi News & Record Review magazine (now just plain Hi-Fi News), and for many years technical editor at Gramophone magazine, was typically terse: "John Crabbe has died. He had a fall on the wintry ice a few days ago and broke an arm. He died at home…
In the March 2008 Stereophile (Vol.31 No.3), I wrote favorably about the A-50T integrated amplifier from the Chinese company Cayin Audio. I was very impressed with its sound, appearance, and construction quality for the price: $1295. This positive experience led me to look into what other products Cayin's importer, VAS Industries, distributes here. More often than not, when a keen ear imports an interesting product into the US, that ear has also heard the good sounds of other products, as attested by the diverse product lines of distributors such as Music Hall and Sumiko. It turns out that…
The V2M also effortlessly reproduced wide dynamic swings without smearing or obvious compression, behaving in this regard much more like a large floorstander than like a bookshelf speaker. The forceful dynamic swings of the spectacular Tchaikovsky symphony recording were reproduced in a precisely linear and organic fashion (from my notes: "the boom, the drama!"). The Kraftwerk track also produced an effortless sense of slam, aided by the speaker's ability to produce realistic bass transients (I'm curious to see John Atkinson's measurements of the V2M's low-frequency performance), which shook…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, stand-mounted loudspeaker. Drive-units: 2.34" (60mm) by 0.56" (14.5mm) by 0.01mm aluminum ribbon tweeter, 5.2" (130mm) carbon-fiber/Kevlar-cone woofer. Crossover frequency: 2.5kHz. Frequency range: 50Hz–40kHz. Sensitivity: 87dB/2.83V/m. Impedance: 8 ohms nominal, 6.4 ohms minimum. Recommended amplification: 50–200W.
Dimensions: 14.6" (370mm) H by 8.1" (205mm) W by 12.2" (309mm) D. Weight: 28 lbs (12.8kg).
Serial Numbers Of Units Reviewed: 0095 (both).
Price: $1890/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 48.
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