My first recommendation is probably the least expensive and simplest to follow: Do…
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So you've spent thousands (hours, that is...in terms of dollars, don't ask!) trying to improve the sound of your stereo, and you're still dissatisfied. Here's a list of sure-fire steps which, if followed precisely, will without a doubt have you happy as a lark for days afterward. (What? You expected to be happy with these improvements for months or even years? Get with it! This is high-end audio we're talking about. When was the last time you were satisfied more than a few hours with your costly upgrades?!)
It is inarguable that the quality of magnetically recorded sound has improved immeasurably in the last 101 years. 101 years? Yes, according to a fascinating account in the May 1988 issue of the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, it was in 1888 that the Cincinnatti-based engineer Oberlin Smith experimented with recording information on steel wire by drawing it across the corner of an electromagnet around which a coil had been wound. Smith only carried out experiments without producing a practical recording system, and it wasn't until 1898 that the Dane, Valdemar Poulsen, was granted a…
I am sure that in Oberlin Smith's time, it was felt that if only the technical problem of the recording process could be overcome, then everything would be perfect. But even with perfect recording equipment, questions arise as to how it is used, as I endeavored to describe in this space last November. That "As We See It" essay outlined opposing philosophies concerning how to record classical music. First, and one to which I adhere in my own recordings, is to treat the recording process as documentary, where the recordist attempts to capture as faithfully as possible on a two-channel recorder…
Many of the Wilson and Reference Recordings are similarly timbrally accurate, at the expense of the stereo image, while recordings that aim to preserve the accuracy of the soundstage nearly always seem to require the use of microphones that color instrumental tone quality, sometimes more than a little. And many recordings, particularly those made with large numbers of microphones, both add coloration and destroy any semblance of a realistic-sounding stereo image.
What I am trying to lead you toward is a recognition that it is too simplistic—and pompous—to insist that equipment reviewers…
Little Feat: Hotcakes & Outtakes: 30 Years of Little Feat
Warner Archives/Rhino R2 79912 (4 CDs). 1970-2000. Russ Titelman, Ted Templeman, Lowell George, Van Dyke Parks, Erik Jacobsen, George Massenburg, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, Bill Wray, Ed Cherney, Frank Zappa, Michael O'Bryant, Richard Moore, orig. prods.; Gary Peterson, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, reissue prods.; Bill Inglot, reissue sound. AAD. TT: 5:13:48
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Warner Archives/Rhino R2 79912 (4 CDs). 1970-2000. Russ Titelman, Ted Templeman, Lowell George, Van Dyke Parks, Erik Jacobsen, George Massenburg, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, Bill Wray, Ed Cherney, Frank Zappa, Michael O'Bryant, Richard Moore, orig. prods.; Gary Peterson, Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, reissue prods.; Bill Inglot, reissue sound. AAD. TT: 5:13:48
Performance *****
Sonics ****
Little Feat: Chinese Work Songs
CMC International 86295-2 (HDCD). 2000. Bill Payne, Paul Barrère, prods.; Nathaniel Kunkel, eng.…
It's a reviewer's privilege to be able to switch back and forth between tube and solid-state gear (or combinations thereof) as the mood or the assignment moves him. Still, I find I'm inevitably drawn back to the Epicurean delights of triode tube gear. When done right, there's an alluring musicality to it, like the breath of life. However, in any tube vs solid-state contest, the relative tradeoffs between tone and resolution—sweetness and articulation, euphony and frequency extension—must be taken into consideration.
Greetings, Pilgrims
The design/production team at Rogue Audio,…
Before I took the Rogue through its final evaluation, I returned to my Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista pre/power reference combo, along with the Joseph Audio RM7si speakers and the Soliloquy S10 powered subwoofer, to refresh my aural palate. I narrowed my selection of recordings to a few discs listened to repeatedly over the course of a couple of days, particularly those that illustrated extreme frequency extension, where I anticipated the Nu-Vista combo would excel. Then I switched to the Rogue preamp, mated primarily with the Nu-Vista 300 power amp: once with the 200W, dual-mono, solid-state…
Sometime back, when I had my Baron upgraded to its final specs (with the Tri-Tube option), I fooled around with some sets of E34L Teslas from Frank Morris of Gold Aero. Those tubes sure did have a lush, open midrange before they sighed, died, and fried a few resistors and pulled down a channel or two. The Baron's original circuit was optimized for the rugged 5881 output tubes, which in my experience are damn near indestructible. The 5881s don't possess in abundance the lavender-cream midrange of the E34L or EL34, but they have more low-end bark and top-end bite, better focus, and faster…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Polarity-inverting tube line-stage preamplifier with remote volume control, separate power supply, ceramic tube sockets, all polypropylene capacitors in signal path and 1% metal-film resistors throughout. Tube complement: two 12AU7. Inputs: five line-level (CD, Tuner, Phono, Aux 1, Aux 2), one tape. Two preamp outputs. Frequency response: 10Hz-50kHz, ±1dB. Voltage gain: 23dB. Rated output: 1.5V RMS. Maximum output: 50V RMS. THD: 0.1%.
Dimensions: Preamplifier: 14" W by 5.5" H by 10.75" D. Weight: 16 lbs. Power supply: 4.125" W by 3" H by 8.875" D…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Rega Planar 3 turntable/tonearm, Grado Reference Master cartridge.
Digital source: Musical Fidelity A3 CD player, California Audio Labs CL-20 DVD/CD player, Sony SCD-777ES SACD player.
Preamplification: Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista preamplifier and X-LP2 phono stage.
Power amplifiers: Mesa Baron, Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 300 and A3CR.
Loudspeakers: Joseph Audio RM7si with Soliloquy S10 powered subwoofer, Vandersteen 2CE Signature.
Cables: Interconnects: Synergistic Research Resolution Reference Mk.II, Designer's Reference (with…