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October 2021 Jazz Record Reviews

Nina Simone: The Montreux Years
Simone, vocals, piano; Buck Clarke, Paul Robinson, drums; Leopoldo Fleming, percussion; Gene Taylor, bass; others.
BMG BMGCAT461D (2LP, 2CD). 2021. Nick Bonard, Fraser Kennedy, Thierry Amsallem, prods.; Tony Cousins, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****½

Nina Simone was one of the most remarkable singers of the 20th century, but few albums capture her full range—heartbreak ballads, jazz, blues, rock, African rhythms, militant politics. Hence the value of The Montreux Years, which contains excerpts from all five of her concerts at the Montreux…

October 2021 Classical Record Reviews

Trio Mediæval: Solacium
Trio Mediæval, vocals; Trygve Seim, saxophone; Mats Eilertsen, double bass.
2L-165 (24/352.8 MQA FLAC), 2021. Morten Lindberg & Arve Henriksen, co-prods.; Lindberg, eng.
Performance *****
Sonics *****

In switching from ECM New Series to 2L, Norwegian women's vocal ensemble Trio Mediæval has moved from a label known for atmospheric acoustics to one lauded for capturing resonant 3D space and pristine silences. Aided by label founder/producer/engineer Morten Lindberg, who has received 28 Grammy nominations and one Award, Trio Mediæval delivers…

Analog Corner #276: van den Hul The Grail phono preamplifier & Colibri Signature Stradivarius phono cartridge

Among the electrically connected, the phrase short circuit induces panic and horrific images of tripped breakers, blown fuses, acrid blue smoke, and melted circuit boards. Nonetheless, near short circuits are becoming popular among the analog set. Moving-coil cartridges of an inductance and impedance so low they're nearly short circuits are now more common, thanks to powerful neodymium magnets that help produce more and more electrical output from fewer and fewer turns of coil wire. Perhaps the most extreme example of this is the Haniwa HCTR01 Mk.II cartridge, which has an internal…

Analog Corner #276: van den Hul The Grail phono preamplifier & Colibri Signature Stradivarius phono cartridge Page 2

I found that a VTF of 1.5gm gave me the smoothest reproduction of vocal sibilants. Even so, for some reason there was occasional smearing of sibilants that should have been clean. I double- and triple-checked every parameter, but the Colibri XGW Stradivarius Signature turned out to be extremely sensitive to VTF. A few tenths of a gram more force, and careful attention to setting the antiskating, smoothed out some slightly ragged sibilants I heard from a test pressing of an upcoming reissue of Joan Armatrading's third, eponymous album (A&M/Intervention IR-029).

My previous encounters…

The Graham Audio LS8/1 Loudspeakers Debut in the US

Jake Snider of Gig Harbor Audio and band Minus the Bear stands between Philip O'Hanlon of On A Higher Note (left) and Gig Harbor co-owner Erik Owen (right).

After two years of COVID-enforced isolation, the ever-dapper Philip O'Hanlon, founder and president of On A Higher Note distribution, flew to the PNW (footnote 1) to present, on October 2, the US premiere of the Graham Audio Limited Anniversary Edition LS8/1 loudspeaker. At $9700/pair with stands, the Graham Anniversary Edition LS8/1 looked right at home in the tastefully appointed, main floor showroom of three-floor Gig Harbor Audio…

Audio Research VT100 power amplifier

The only thing that excites me as much as finding an excitable new affordable component (which I define as below $1000, and the lower the better) is a new "trickle-down" design from a cutting-edge designer. Thankfully, such new "real-world" products are becoming more commonplace in the High End. The process begins when a talented high-end designer releases an expensive, cutting-edge product that is hailed by the audiophile press as a breakthrough, a new "reference." The designer then takes the most significant features of his cost-no-object design and reinterprets them in a more cost-…

Audio Research VT100 power amplifier Page 2

Bring on the trickle-down designs!!!
In my Winter CES Show report (April 1996, p.89), I gave the Audio Research room Best Sound because I was hearing the system, which featured the new Reference 600 amplifier, reproduce things I'd never heard before from familiar recordings. I heard the very same things in my listening room with the VT100:

Extraordinary Resolution of Detail: The noisefloor was significant lower than that of any other amp I've reviewed. The amount of information retrieved from very familiar recordings in some cases changed my reaction to the music. Over the last…

Audio Research VT100 power amplifier VT100 Mk.II

The Audio Research VT100 Mk.II (from December 1998 (Vol.21 No.12)

Designers frequently make minor changes in an electronic component's design throughout its market life cycle. As these changes tend to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary, manufacturers seldom make a big deal about a capacitor change here, a tube change or wiring reconfiguration there. This strategy is partly due to the company reluctance to get the market excited about subtle changes, and so not piss off the gal who just plunked down some heavy green for what she thought was the latest design.

Nevertheless,…

Audio Research VT100 power amplifier Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Two-channel, tube power amplifier. Tube complement: four matched pairs 6550C output; four 6922 drive; four 6922 input. Power output: 100Wpc continuous, 20Hz–20kHz, into 8 ohms (20dBW). Power bandwidth (–3dB): 15Hz–80kHz. Frequency response at 1W: 1Hz–100kHz, –3dB. Total harmonic distortion: typically 1% at 1kHz at 100W, below 0.05% at 1W. Input sensitivity: 1.0V RMS (balanced or single-ended) for rated output. Input impedance: 200k ohms balanced, 100k ohms single-ended. Overall negative feedback: 10dB. Slew rate: 15V/µs. Risetime: 3µs. Hum and noise…

Audio Research VT100 power amplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

For this review I used the Goldmund Studio/Syrinx PU-3/Koetsu Urushi and California Audio Labs Delta/Sigma II front-ends, Vendetta Research SP-2C and EAR 834P phono stages, Audible Illusions Modulus L1 and Audio Research Reference 1 line stages, and Acarian Systems Alón V Mk.II and Circe loudspeakers. Wires included MIT Digital Reference and MI-350 CVTwin Terminator interconnects, and Acarian Systems Black Orpheus tri-wired speaker cable.—Robert J. Reina