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Recording of December 1993: <I>On Yoolis Night</I>

ANONYMOUS 4: On Yoolis Night
Medieval Christmas Carols and Motets
Anonymous 4
Harmonia Mundi 907099 (CD only). Robina G. Young, prod.; Brad Michel, eng. ADD? TT: 68:03

A disc of English medieval Christmas music is a logical follow-up to this group's enormously successful English Ladymass recording, not only in terms of its likely popular appeal (classical music stations which avoid the Middle Ages as a matter of policy will make an exception at Christmas), but also as a continuation of their exploration of the Marian repertoire. Indeed, nowhere is the Mariolatric aspect of…

Recommended Components Addendum

Loudspeaker Cables & Interconnects
Editor's Note: Rather than place cables in the usual "Recommended Components" classes, we've just listed those cables that members of the magazine's review team either have chosen to use on a long-term basis or have found to offer good value for money. They are therefore implicitly recommended. Where a cable has been found to have specific matching requirements or an identifiable sonic signature, it is noted in the text. "Try before you buy" is mandatory with cables; many dealers have a loaner stock to make this easier.

Interconnects

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Listening #2

Consider the coelacanth. In 1938, a healthy specimen of this Paul Simon-sized fish was pulled from the Indian Ocean, not far from the mouth of South Africa's Chalumna River. But prior to that happy event (depending on your perspective, of course: the sight of the coelacanth's long, fleshy fins probably made for some very unhappy creationists), the scientific community believed the animal in question was extinct, and had been for 65 million years.

We have also learned that these elusive dinotrout spent at least some of the last 65,000,065 years working on their act, if not quite taking it…

Listening #2 Page 2

On the less mathematical side of things we have New Yorker Bob Visintainer, the man behind Avantgarde Music & Cinema. In his own Victor Kiam-esque way, Visintainer liked his first pair of Avantgarde Duos so much that he bought a second pair, and he liked them so much he approached the speaker's US distributor, Jim Smith, and suggested giving the speakers their own store in a city where some audio dealers are notorious for their arrogance, condescension, and unstinting efforts on behalf of the cult of the trophy system. Smith said yes, and on November 13 he and some associates gathered at…

Listening #2 Page 3

Well, you can see what I'm getting at. A fair and full description takes a great deal more space than this, and in any event the Model 88 really must be heard and seen to be appreciated: Beyond everything else I can (or, apparently, can't) say about the 88, it's a pleasure to find a physical design that is completely, 100% fresh, new, and inviting without looking silly and overdone. Bravo to Audiopax and its founding designer, the very friendly Eduardo de Lima, who speaks English a little better than at least one "elected" official I can think of.

In other words, whereas the selection at…

Graaf GM 200 OTL power amplifier

I'm always eager to fulfill my prime Stereophile directive: "To go where no audiophile has gone before," as JA often quips. As it happens, I've long suffered an itch to audition OTL (output-transformer–less) amplifiers, wondering how eliminating the output transformer might affect the sound. Enter the Graaf GM 200, with nothing but wire between its power tubes and the crossover.

Of course, nothing's free; eliminating the output transformer (and its distortions, claim rabid OTLers) engenders other problems. For instance, the primary purpose of an output transformer (the bad puns never…

Graaf GM 200 OTL power amplifier Page 2

On the open road
Describing the sound of the Graaf GM 200 is all about Major Audio Concepts.

Its overwhelming sonic characteristic is a very special clarity and purity of presentation. Clarity divorced of musical context can, in my experience, sound analytical and hard. But I found myself enthralled by the Graaf's openness and lack of grain or mechanical artifact. It was easy to feel "close" to the music in that special way I've so far experienced only with single-ended amps.

This fundamental clarity permitted a wonderful sense of transparency and air to develop. While the…

Graaf GM 200 OTL power amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Tube stereo power amplifier. Tube complement per side: 32 PL504, 2 12BZ7, 2 5965, 4 EFL 200/6Y9, 2 EM81/6DA5. Output power: 200Wpc into 8 ohms (23dBW). Input impedance: 100k ohms. Damping factor: 12. Negative feedback: 17.5dB. Power consumption: 800W idle, 1600W at rated output.
Dimensions: 17.5" W by 8.25" H by 16.33" D. Weight: 66 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: 20067.
Price: $12,500 (1997). Approximate number of dealers: 5. Warranty: 2 years excluding tubes; all tubes: 90 days.
Manufacturer: Graaf s.r.l., Modena, Italy. US…

Graaf GM 200 OTL power amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Source: Forsell Air Force One (footnote 1) with the vdH Grasshopper IV, Symphonic Line RG-8, and Clearaudio Insider. XLO Signature phono cable, Shun Mook and Harmonix record weights, Winds ALM-01 Arm Load Meter.
Digital Sources: Ensemble Dichrono DAC and Drive, Forsell Air Bearing transport and CD converter, YBA CD1 Blue Laser.
Preamplifiers: YBA 6 Chassis, BAT VK-5i, BAT VK-P10 phono preamp.
Power Amplifiers: Jadis JA 200s, Transcendent T8 OTL, Forsell The Statement.
Loudspeakers: Joseph Audio RM-22 and RM-50.
Cables: Bi-wire Cardas…

The Shun Mook Affair BW page 3

According to Shun Mook's promotional literature, part of what their devices do is derived from the way they're made, part from what they're made of, and another part from the way they're arranged. Asian cultures have elaborate traditions of harmoniously arranging objects; the Japanese art of ikebana and the Chinese practice of feng shui are but two that come to mind. Part of the benefit to be derived from these products may stem from their harmonic spatial relationships, both to each other and to all the other objects in the room.

At the WCES---see my report in this issue---I spent…