THE CD PLAYER PLUS - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

No. 87 CAN $6.49 / US $7.69 

THE CD PLAYER PLUS: We listen to the April 

Music Eximus player, and we use its suite of 

digital inputs to shake down better ways to 

get music from computer to loudspeakers 

MORE REVIEWS: The successor to our 

Audiomat phono stage, a hand-wound 

step-up transformer, an affordable tube 

integrated amp, and Pioneer’s latest Bluray 

player 

PLUS: Hi-fi in tough economic times, putting 

SACD on hard disc, and the Montreal show 

RETURN LABELS ONLY 

OF UNDELIVERED COPIES TO: 

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ISSN 0847-1851 

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No. 40065638

Issue No. 87 

Cover story: The Audio Space Galaxy 34 amplifier 

floats near the Pleiades star cluster, as seen by the 

Hubble telescope. At right, an extraterrestrial vessel 

(actually an Apple Airport Express) boldly goes where 

no audio gear has gone before. 

Features 

A Slimmer Montreal Show 18 

by Gerard Rejskind 

Fewer exhibitors, but big crowds. Worth touring, 

despite the missing brands 

Touring the Show With Guests 21 

by Albert Simon 

Lots more on this year’s extravaganza, with Albert 

and several invited guests 

Good Sound in Bad Times 26 


The times they are a-changin’, but less than you 

think. A look back through the history of hi-fi 

reveals the truth 

Nuts&Bolts 

Putting SACD on hard disc 32 

Just one question: can you? Inquiring minds want 

to know 

Cinema 

Pioneer BDP-51FD 36 

We upgraded to a new Blu-ray player, and we were 

glad we had 

The Listening Room 

April Eximus Player 40 

Massive, fancy, and with a full set of digital inputs 

Allnic Step-up Transformer 44 

For years, the phono transformers we’ve heard have 

been trash. Is this one a welcome exception? 

Audiomat Phono 1.6 preamp 46 

We’ve long used the older Phono 1.5 as our 

reference phono preamp. Time to change? 

Audio Space Galaxy 34 Amplifier 49 

From Hong Kong, a gorgeous tube integrated with 

serious ambitions 

Music Through the Air 52 

Can the inexpensive Airport Express be pressed 

into service as a high end source? 

Software 

The Rubinstein Century 63 

by Reine Lessard 

Arthur Rubinstein was not only one of the greatest 

pianists of his age, but a witness to it 

Software Reviews 70 

by Gerard Rejskind and Albert Simon 

Departments 

Editorial 4 

Feedback 7 

Free Advice 9 

Gossip & News 76 

State of the Art 82 

ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 3

UHF Magazine No. 87 was published in October, 2009. All 

contents are copyright 2009 by Broadcast Canada. They 

may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any 

means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, 

recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, 

without written permission from the publisher. 

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PUBLISHER & EDITOR: Gerard Rejskind 

EDITORIAL: Paul Bergman, Steve Bourke, Toby Earp, Reine 

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4 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 

Editorial 

Changes 

There is no free, there’s only “who’s paying.” 

I’ve just heard that phrase on the radio. The subject was water, but it seems 

to me equally suited to the changing role of the media: music, movies, television, 

newspapers, and of course magazines like this one. 

But how do you convince people in the age of the Internet that there’s no 

such thing as free? Isn’t the Net full of free information? And was it not said 

that “information wants to be free”? 

Actually, not quite. The phrase is from Stewart Brand, whose work with 

The Whole Earth Catalog and its later offshoots was a seminal influence on 

UHF. Brand’s entire phrase reads like this: 

On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it’s so valuable. 

The right information in the right place just changes your life. On 

the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it 

out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting 

against each other. 

The World Wide Web did not yet exist when Brand said that, in 1984, but 

once it arrived it greatly lowered the cost of getting information “out there.” 

Putting out music meant pressing an LP or a CD, packaging it and shipping 

it. Today the music can be sent to anyone who wants it for only the cost of 

bandwidth, which keeps dropping. Putting out news meant typesetting, 

making printing plates, churning paper through giant presses, then trucking 

the publication to thousands of newsstands. Today the same news is available 

worldwide, for free. 

Only who’s paying? 

Television was free, because advertisers were paying for the privilege of 

pitching their products. Today a majority of TV channels are pay channels. 

You can actually buy programs at the iTunes store, and DVD stores are filled 

with full-season collections of Sex and the City, Six Feet Under and Lost. Radio 

was free, with sponsors, donors or taxpayers picking up the high cost of running 

powerful transmitters. Today a radio program can be streamed on the 

Internet, not for free but nearly. 

The trouble with information that can be put “out there” for next to nothing 

is that just anyone can put it out. That has made blogging and Facebook 

possible, to be sure, but you still need to ask who’s paying. Remember that 

companies are willing to spend millions of dollars to air a 30-second commercial 

during the Super Bowl. You think they won’t leap at the chance of 

getting “information” to you over an almost-free medium like the Internet? 

On radio and TV you mostly know what is programming and what is a commercial. 

On the Internet, don’t count on it. 

I don’t mean to sound as though I’m anti-Web. Our arrival on the Web, 

which dates from 1996, has given UHF its worldwide presence. Of course it 

will, more and more, force shifts in our business model, as it has done with 

the record industry, Hollywood, and the newspapers. 

Oh…and about that phrase with which I began? It was on a CBC radio 

program called Outfront. Ironically, it’s one of the programs CBC cut last 

June, for lack of funds. Until now the program has been free, only now no 

one is paying.

“DOGS YES, DOG EARS NOT SO MUCH” 

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The reason is obvious. Where do copies sit around unprotected? 

At the newsstand. Where do other people leaf through them before 

you arrive, with remains of lunch on their fingers? At the newsstand. 

Where do they stick on little labels you can’t even peel off? 

Our subscribers, on the other hand, get pristine copies protected 

in plastic, with the address label pasted on the plastic itself, not the 

cover. 

We know what you really want is a perfect copy, and if that means paying a little 

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As if that weren’t reason enough, there’s the fact that with a subscription you 

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Feedback 


Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4 

uhfmail@uhfmag.com 

lacking, not the tone arm. 

I have heard your opinion about tube 

equipment over the decades and all I can 

say is I would never listen to a solid state 

system for audio. 

Richard T. Jobagy 

WINDSOR, ON 

One of the great pleasures of receiv- bananas or Z-plugs anyway, so I had to 

We’re glad to hear it worked out for you, 

Richard. We would point out, however, that 

ing UHF is reading Reine’s great articles. change at least one side. Given the high the Linn LP12 is a moving target. Though 

Please put them into a book and publish quality of your reviews, I decided to it sort of looks the same as the original model, 

it. 

change both ends, and replaced them it sounds totally different. 

Daniel Marois with the WBT nextgen spades. Before 

GATINEAU, QC I had received the new preamp/amp Just a note regarding the Scheu 

system, I had one week to test them with Premiere turntable review. I had the 

I was wondering why you did not my Mimetism 15.2. And, indeed, there chance to audition one of these with 

choose the BDP-05FD Blu-ray from is an improvement. I still do not under- a Schroeder arm. I was generally 

Pioneer? I have the same Samsung stand why, because there does not seem impressed except for a speed instability 

HDTV you have and am debating on to be a big difference in the amount of that was quite audible. It didn’t match 

which one to go for (BDP-51 or 05). metal between the two connectors, and my heavily-modified LP12, but it was 

I value your opinion so any infor- I remain a bit skeptical about this theory. still impressive. Incidentally I hear that 

mation that might help will be greatly Maybe, it is the sandwich structure of Linn has finally come out with a DC 

appreciated. 

the WBT spade that allows a better motor; something I converted to on 

John UHF Kritikoson 

contact? line is interactive! mine years ago. I’m sure Linn’s price 

Anyway, your article was right. will be nowhere near the Origin Live 

John, after our experience with our Unlike first with a physical magazine, Philippe which forces Martiat you to Advanced turn pages, DC the kit that I use! 

Sony Blu-ray player, we can see on-line that the version of UHF Magazine BRUSSELS, helps you Belgium along with technology. Now to your For sidebar on strobes: 

Blu-ray standard is a work in progress. instance, We click on any title in the table of contents (on the previous I think your page), math is, er, shall we say, 

considered whatever new player we and purchased you’ll be whisked Incidentally, right Philippe, to the article John Carrick itself. over “off.” 

to be an interim reference, and not a Turn definito 

the at table Atlas of was advertisers less than ecstatic on page to hear 81 (and from that, by 33 the + 1/3 way, = is 100/3 a 

tive choice. The BDP-11FD is not link), an and Elite click you. on the name of a product or company, and an 100/3 an instant x 1/60 x 360 = 200 (exactly 200 

model, but it is billed as having you’ll the same be looking at the ad itself. 

not 199.98) degrees per second. 

chipset as the BDP-09FD, which And is from then try I’ve clicking been on reading an ad…UHF 

since 1983, That works out to exactly 216 spokes 

Pioneer’s Elite line. It appears to have If been you a are when connected it was to called the Internet, Hi-Fi Sound. you’ll be That taken using right to my the math…and adver- perfectly doable. 

good choice, but how long it will tiser’s remain Web our site 1983 in your issue default had a Web article browser. about Classé I think you are using the new “digital” 

point of reference is anyone’s guess. Those interactive audio amps. features When were I read designed the price for the of paid math electronic that rounds version everything off (with 

By the way, Pioneer has entered of UHF, into but a they this amp, work I every felt I would bit as never well on own the a free great PDF audible version results)! you’re 

“partnership” with Sharp for looking future disc at. We system.The hope you enjoy Internet it. changed all that. (God, I hope I have this right!) 

players. This could be a good thing, since Armed with the knowledge from 

Nick Dudley 

Sharp over the past few years has made some reading your assessments of various 

PORT COQUITLAM, BC 

pretty…sharp design choices. Will it mean components over the years, and confirm- 

that future Pioneers will be rebadged Sharps? ing it with my own experience, I made You mean we shouldn’t have calculated it 

Who knows? 

a decision to replace my Linn/Naim 

system. I felt upgrading a turntable 

using Windows Vista? 

I asked you previously about whether design from the seventies was the wrong Have you heard of Sony Blu-spec 

I should change the connectors of my way to proceed. On the advice from a audio CDs, promising to “reconsti- 

Atlas Mavros loudspeaker cables. Then musician co-worker, I decided to take a tute quality sound equivalent to that of 

I read your test in the last issue. I even chance on Decware. I also took a chance the studio master?” 

wrote to John Carrick at Atlas, quoting and purchased an Orgin Live Calypso 

Daniel Robichaud 

your two articles, to know whether he turntable. I have been rewarded with a 

MONCTON, NB 

had tried it. He told me that it did not musical experience beyond anything I 

make sense to replace a gold-plated OCC could have dreamed of in 1983.I am still Yes we have, Daniel, and it is not what 

plug with a WBT nextgen connector. using the Ittok tonearm and the Asaka it sounds like. Is it a high-capacity Blu-ray 

Meanwhile, I have upgraded my cartridge and getting results far beyond disc pressed into service as a very high qual- 

system with the XP10 and X250.5 from anything I had heard before anywhere. ity audio disc? In fact, no. It is a conven- 

Pass Labs. The amplifier does not accept I know now it was the LP12 that was tional 16/44 Red Book CD, playable on any 


Feedback 

CD player. What is special about it is that 

the authoring is done with the more precise 

blue-violet laser employed for Blu-ray. 

Supposedly it allows more precise carving of 

the pits on the CD master. However it does 

nothing to make the mass production of the 

CD more precise, and that’s where the really 

bad stuff happens. 

In issue 82 and 84 you tested two 

devices to get sound out of a PC/Mac 

from the USB port. You said there were 

three ways to get sound out of a Mac. I 

think there is a fourth possibility you 

don’t know about. 

Each and every Mac model from 

the MacBook to the Mac Pro have one 

optical input and one optical output 

(the headphone and microphone jacks 

are hybrid analog/optical on all models 

but the Mac Pro). For three years now I 

have been using a Mac Mini as my main 

audio source. The music is stored on an 

external 1 TB USB hard drive and an 

optical fibre links the Mini headphone 

jack to a Benchmark D/A. I am enjoying 

that setup a lot, even more so recently 

thanks to you, now that you made me 


discover I can buy HD music online. I 

can now enjoy 24 bit/192 kHz music in 

my living room! 

Could you please test the optical out 

and compare it with the Thingee and 

Off-Ramp devices? I would be curious 

to know which produces better sound. 

Also I would recommend you test with 

the music coming from an external USB 

drive, since a lot of people will have that 

kind of set-up and it probably influences 

the musicality of the USB port. 

Philippe Grégoire 

MONTRÉAL, QC 

We do know about the optical output, 

which also exists on Apple’s Airport Express. 

We will be doing exactly the comparison you 

suggest in our next issue. Using an external 

USB hard disc for this purpose is problematic, 

because USB 2.0 circuits have limited 

current, and asking them to run both a hard 

disc and an audio interface will not give 

optimum results. Firewire is a better choice, 

if of course your computer comes with it. 

You have had the same experience 

I have had (with Wawanesa insurance). 

Years ago, when I was at university, my 

albums were in my parent’s basement, a 

flood occurred, vinyl floated all over the 

basement. No claim was paid out for any 

damages. My poor parents paid out of 

pocket. 

Several years later a similar incident: 

water came out from the toilet, came 

crashing down into the basement. 

Luckily I had moved my Linn Karrik/ 

Numerik Linn LK1 and LK2 and LP12 

out a few days earlier. They never paid 

out fully. Glad you named them. 

Glad to have met you and Mr. Earp at 

the show sorry I took too much of your 

time. Cheers. I still love the magazine 

and still have the first issue. 

Nick Lakoumentas 

MONTRÉAL, QC 

To be fair, Nick, Wawanesa had always 

treated us well over a number of years. 

Most insurance policies, incidentally, now 

have a clause limiting liability for audio and 

video software: CDs, LPs, DVDs, because 

that’s what thieves prefer. Beyond $1000 

you’re on your own, on pretty much any 

policy.

Free Advice 


Longueuil, Québec, Canada J4K 5J4 

uhfmail@uhfmag.com 

I have lately discovered high resolution 

24/96 downloads and I’m impressed 

with the quality of playback through my 

laptop using an M-Audio Fast Track 

Pro interface. This makes me wonder 

if I should get rid of my CD players: 

an Accuphase DP 500 and a Shanling 

SCD-T200 SACD player. 

I find the sound difference between 

each of those players and my laptop 

not so big, and I’m sure it can improve 

dramatically if I use the right interface. 

Your advice is vital here. 

W h at wou ld b e a not v e r y 

expensive(US$500-$1000) interface 

between my laptop and amp that would 

perform better than my M-Audio? 

Would you recommend selling my 

CD players and sticking to my laptop? 

Things are changing so fast, and I’m 

afraid those expensive CD players will 

be obsolete in a very short time. 

Welcome to the new staff at UHF. 

Keep up the fantastic job this team has 

been doing. 

Jean-Paul Haggar 

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt 

Actually, Jean-Paul, a CD player 

won’t be obsolete as long as it keeps 

doing something you want done. We do 

believe that, at some point, these players 

will be obsolete because people will stop 

buying them, and those who own them 

will use them less and less. That is what 

happened to cassette decks, though they 

still work as well as they ever did, and 

some people still use them. 

Your experience so far tells you that 

the difference between your laptop 

computer and your two players is not 

large. Still, there is a difference. It is not 

an inherent difference, as we noted when 

we reviewed the Linn Klimax DS, but 

making a computer sound like a very 

good player takes a good deal of care... 

and a good deal of money as well. Your 

Fast Track Pro is aimed at small recording 

studios rather than audiophiles, but it 

is unlikely that you can do significantly 

better at the prices you mention. 

What we expect to see is a strong 

return of the standalone digital-to-analog 

converter. Most high end manufacturers 

had opted for single-box players, 

largely because they can more easily be 

made to work right. However there is a 

growing demand for quality DACs that 

can use a computer as a digital source. 

Some of them have USB interfaces, and 

we wouldn’t be surprised to see them pop 

up with Ethernet connectivity as well. 

Ethernet is an asynchronous system, and 

it is immune to timing errors. 

For our part, we are reluctant to 

continue reviewing CD players that 

don’t have digital inputs. They’ll work 

for many years, but they are already 

obsolescent. 

I quickly read UHF No. 86, dedicated 

in large part to vinyl reproduction, 

because I love my record collection, but 

when you mention in the discussion of 

phono stages the cost of manufacturing a 

good step-up transformer for amplifying 

the voltage of low-output moving coil 

cartridges, you stirred up an old question 

that has nagged me for years. I have been 

tempted to make the move to a lowoutput 

moving coil cartridge but I have 

never been able to find a good review, or 

even a reasonably good discussion, of the 

merits of different transformers. 

My own system is composed of a 

SOTA Nova vacuum turntable with an 

SME series IV tone arm, a Denon DL110 

high-output moving coil cartridge, two 

Quicksilver M135 mono amplifiers 

linked with Nordost Blue Heaven interconnects 

to a Quicksilver full-function 

preamplifier, c.1989. The Spendor S 

3/5 speakers are attached using single 

Audioquest Type 4 cables. 

While various incidents with pets 

and children have brought me to downgrade 

to a relatively cheap (although 

still quite enjoyable) cartridge, I would 

like to make the move at some point to 

a really nice moving coil, after I put up 

an electric fence around the turntable 

stand. For example I have heard the 

Dynavector 20XL on a friend’s system 

and it impressed me. I like my phono 

stage, and because I like it I am tempted 

to purchase the Quicksilver step-up 

transformer as well. Still, I would like 

to hear your opinion on the differences 

(or lack thereof) among transformers. 

John D. 

MONTRÉAL, QC 

We can give it to you pretty quickly 

John. It’s extremely difficult to find 

a step-up transformer that doesn’t inflict 

major damage on the music, and that 

includes some very expensive transformers 

we’ve heard. That’s a shame, because 

a transformer of sufficient quality will 

outperform the extra gain stage on an 

MC phono preamp. Our feeling is that 

winding a transformer capable of tiny 


Feedback 


signals is a task that requires exquisite 

skill, the sort of skill that is vanishing 

in the modern world. 

We haven’t heard them all by any 

means, but we’ve heard some expensive 

ones, and the results mostly weren’t 

pretty. However we do have a review of 

a step-up transformer, our first in many 

years, in this very issue of UHF. 

Back in issue No. 21 you gave the 

QED F79 speaker cable a good rating. 

That is what I got 20 years ago. 

Actually I still can’t afford expensive 

cables but do cables go bad? I know there 

can be physical wear, but these are like 

new, connections have been tweaked 

over the years. Could I do better? I can 

afford a cable in the $5 to $6 a foot range. 

Some Neotech and Kimber cables look 

(sound???) interesting. 

My next question is what would be 

the best transport? I have two options: 

an old Arcam Alpha-Plus with no issues 

other than it now sounds terrible compared 

to new stuff, or a much newer 

Oppo 981HD that sounds pretty good 

when you consider the cost. I listen to 

vinyl most of the time but still need to 

spin CDs. One salesperson suggested 

I could rip all my CDs, but that is not 

something I will be doing anytime soon. 

I enjoy spinning CDs (must be like a type 

of vinyl addiction). 

I will be purchasing a new Cambridge 

DACMagic in the coming month, unless 

you can suggest something better. I 

have a large collection of downloaded 

lossless music, so I need a USB input 

on the DAC. I know the standard reply 

to choosing gear is listen and choose. 

Well I have, with a Buddy’s DACMagic 

that he was kind enough to lend me for 

a weekend. The verdict was…well there 

was no verdict, we were not sure. 

Keep up the good work. I used to 

think you people at UHF were a little 

crazy or “on” something, the way you 

heard all these differences in amps, 

cables etc. Well, 20 or so years later, I 

must be nuts too, because I can hear the 

differences, yet my hearing is not what 

it was 20 years ago. 

Scott Barta 

LONDON, ON 

No, but what you’ve picked up is 

experience, Scott, which better lets you 

evaluate what you hear. 

The DACMagic looks like a pretty 

good choice in its price range, which 

is way below such products as the 

Benchmark DAC1. Finding a transport 

is harder. Cambridge once had its own, 

designed to match the original DAC- 

Magic, but it no longer does. The CEC 

belt-driven transport works very well, 

and we own one ourselves. You can of 

course use a standard CD player and 

feed its digital output into the DAC. The 

results may be less than predictable. 

Do cables age? Yes, they probably do. 

The reason so many cable manufacturers 

boast of their “oxygen-free copper” 

is that oxygen is a vital ingredient in 

corrosion. All the same, the copper 

strands may corrode in time. They are 

especially vulnerable at the ends, where 

the wire leaves its sheath and enters the 

connector. Reterminating an aged cable 

can make it sound...perhaps not new, but 

as though it had had a lifting and tummy 

tuck. 

I am in the process of “ripping” my 

CD collection to a Mac Mini with a 

500 GB hard drive. Currently, I am using 

the optical out connected to an older 

Aragon D2A. The optical cable came 

from a local pro-audio store. For the $15 

I paid, it is very obviously plastic. 

I have been looking around for a 

glass cable, and did find that a lot of the 

high end cable makers also carry glass 

TOSLINK cables. Prices seem to be 

from around $200 to as much as $600. 

Have you had experience with good 

TOSLINK cables? I know it is worth 

the change, but will price really make 

a big difference in optical cable? Unless 

the price is related to the quality of the 

glass. 

If all else fails, I will purchase a 

USB/Firewire-to-coaxial converter, 

probably from a pro-audio company like 

M-Audio, or PreSonus, and use my Atlas 

digital cable. 

Tom Todorovski 

TORONTO, ON 

We have tried a number of fibre optic 

cables, Tom, and we are preparing to 

listen to some more. Our experience so 

far: plastic TOSLINK cables don’t hold

a candle to a good coaxial digital cable. 

Of course good coaxial cables aren’t 

cheap either. As you note, several companies 

offer glass optical cables. Some 

are indeed expensive, such as the one 

from Wireworld (which we have tried, 

however, and we liked it a great deal), 

whereas others are inexpensive, such as 

those from Amphenol and SonicWave. 

We have yet to try them. 

Incidentally, in a blind test some time 

ago we confirmed the hypothesis that, 

all else being equal, a 1.5 m long digital 

cable will sound better than a 1 m cable. 

We expect the same would apply to optical 

cables. We don’t know anyone who 

makes a 1.5 m optical, though, and we 

would suspect that a 2 m cable would be 

the runner-up choice. 

As a point of historical interest, we 

might mention that there was once a 

distinct standard for glass optical links, 

set up by AT&T (yes, the people who sell 

iPhones). No modern equipment comes 

with the AT&T optical connector, 

unfortunately, but glass fibres have been 

adapted to the ubiquitous TOSLINK. 

Back-to-front, my system consists 

of: Equation 25 speakers, Actinote LB 

speaker cables, Blue Circle AG8000 

monoblocks, a Blue Circle BC3 Galatea 

MK II preamp, a Sonic Frontiers DAC2, 

a Harmonic Technology Platinum digital 

cable, and a Melos CD player. All the 

interconnects are Wireworld Eclipse II 

with Cardas RCA’s; all the power cords 

are Cardas Cross and they plug into a 

Chang CSL 6400 power conditioner. 

First, since all of the components 

in my system have vacuum tubes, I 

shut the whole system down when I’m 

not listening to it, in order to prolong 

tube life. As I am often away from the 

house, sometimes for weeks at a time for 

work, I do not want to leave my stereo 

powered all the time. With five separate 

power switches to turn the whole stereo 

on and off, I am considering having 

a power switch on a dedicated power 

circuit wired for the stereo, and would 

like your opinion on whether this would 

substantially degrade the sound or 

negate the sonic advantage of putting in 

a dedicated circuit. My goal is to have a 

more convenient way to turn the stereo 

on and off, without negatively affecting 

the sound. If a regular wall switch in 

the circuit would affect the sound, are 

there higher-grade switches available 

that meet the electrical code that do 

not imprint on or degrade the supply 

of power? Basically I’m looking for the 

switch equivalent of a Hubbell hospital 

outlet. 

My next questions are about an 

upgrade to the source, namely the CD 

player. I am considering a used Ikemi or 

Meridian 508.24 or a new CEC TL51XR. 

I’ve heard and liked both the Ikemi and 

Meridian in the past, but have not been 

able to compare the two. Is there one that 

you would recommend over the other? 

Have you had experience with the new 

CEC player based on the transport that 

you already own; and if so, how would 

it compare with an older player like the 

UHF favorite, the Ikemi? 

Third, what would be your suggestion 

for a good high-output MC or MM 

cartridge to use with a Copland CTA- 

305 phono section and an Oracle Delphi 

MK II table? I have the Copland on the 

way, mainly for its phono section so that 

I can use my long dormant Oracle again 

and get back into vinyl. I’m hoping that 

sonically the Copland will be a match for 

my Blue Circle Galatea, while having the 

added convenience of a built-in phono 

stage and remote. I think that the Blue 

Circle is going to be very hard to beat, 

and I might just use the Copland as a 

standalone phono section. 

Lastly, I would like to add my name 

to the growing list of people requesting 

that you review Blue Circle Audio 

components. I’m conscious that you are 

a smaller publication and can’t review 

everything on the market, but I think 

that since Blue Circle is Canadian and 

well established, their omission from 

your reviews seems particularly conspicuous. 

I know that you have reviewed 

the BC “Thingee” in the past, but that is 

more of an accessory and I’d love to see 

a review on one of their newer DC preamps 

or higher-end hybrid amplifiers. 

Patrick Burek 

HAMILTON, ON 

Whew, what a set of questions, Patrick! 

Let’s see if we can come up with 

some quick, glib answers. 

If you’re frequently away from home, 

ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 11 

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Get UHF on your desktop 

shutting everything down is a good idea 

for a whole lot of reasons. Yes, adding 

a switch of any sort is going to add 

resistance to the power circuit, but wait 

a minute. Did we understand that your 

system will soon be fed from a dedicated 

power line? Then you already have a 

switch: the circuit breaker. Of course it 

does degrade performance a little too, 

but since both the electrical code and 

common sense make it mandatory, you 

might as well use it. 

The Ikemi player would probably be 

a good choice, but if you find one it will 

have had a lot of use. You may want to 

check out more modern Linn players, 

such as the Akurate and the Classik. The 

CEC player would not be in the same 

league, though the CEC transport plus a 

good outboard DAC is another matter. 

A popular moderately-priced highoutput 

MC cartridge is the Sumiko Blue 

Point Special. For rather other more PDF. money 

the same company offers the Talisman. 

Goldring’s Eroica H is MagZee. another possibility. 

That’s hardly an exhaustive list, to 

be sure. 

Finally, we are not against reviewing 


do go out of town and listen at high 

end shops it is usually on a completely 

different system, so it is very difficult to 

determine the “sound” of an individual 

component. 

One possible problem is that my 

preamp produces quite a bit of hiss when 

no music is playing. The volume goes 

from 1 to 50 and the hiss is steady until 

about 40, when it becomes increasingly 

louder, and at which point I can start 

hearing the changes in volume as clicking 

sounds when increasing from 40 to 

41, and a loud click at each increment to 

50. 

Simaudio assures me that this is the 

background noise of the preamp, and the 

unit has been back to them for a repair 

when it stopped working completely, but 

it still came back with the hiss audible 

from my listening position. I can’t help 

but think that this is covering up the 

high frequencies. 

I enjoy the sound of the system. It is 

very captivating, smooth and detailed, 

with a great midrange due to the three 

way Energy’s. I hauled my PSB Stratus 

Minis up from the basement and compared 

them to the Energy’s, and it didn’t 

Blue Circle products, but Blue Circle take long to realize that the Energy’s are 

is a boutique manufacturer who makes far better in all respects. But how much 

products in very small quantities. It better can it get? Missing is imaging and 

has happened that we have asked for a resolution, I believe. 

product for review, and that the company Would a new preamp be a more press- 

was not in a position to supply it. ing upgrade than the speakers? On the 

But that’s the luck of the draw, and other hand, I have always dreamed of 

in fact we have already received a Blue owning a pair of Focus Audio FS-788’s, 

Circle product, scheduled for review in since I have never had floorstanding 

UHF No. 88. 

speakers, but I wonder if these are out 

of my league and would make the rest of 

How the electronic My system is made up of version a Simaudio my entire works system the weak point. Your 

Celeste P-5003 preamplifier, Celeste advice, as always, is appreciated. 

We don’t mean this W-4070SE version, amplifier because you and already Energy know Veritas how it works. It’s a PDF, Paul Hirvinen 

and you open it with 2.2i Adobe loudspeakers reader, etc. on Energy stands. 

THUNDER BAY, ON 

But we also have My a paid Linn electronic LP12, Ittok, version, Adikt, which Valhalla is complete, without banners like 

this one, or articles turntable, in fluent gibberish. Lehmann Audio Black Cube Well, for now we would give the 

That one, because SE it phono is complete, preamp, has and to Linn be ordered Genki with CD a credit preamplifier card. To our open undivided attention, 

it, you also have to download player are a not plugin in question, for your copy since of I Adobe am Paul. Reader The or Acrobat. P-5003 is not as good as the 

You’ll receive a user looking name and for password either a to better allow preamp you to download or still your remarkable full copy W-4070SE of amplifier, 

the magazine. You’ll speakers, need the ones same that user will name be and able password to keep the but first then time you you probably open already know that. 

the magazine on your up computer, with upgrades but in only source the first components, time. After You that, should it works not like be able any to hear hiss from 

cables, and an eventual high end DAC listening position even if you live in an 

For details, visit for our computer-sourced Electronic Edition audio. page. I To also buy feel an issue unusually or subscribe, quiet neighborhood. 

visit 

that my power amp is good enough for The clicking sounds when you adjust 

a long while. 

the volume are worrisome too. At the 

Due to location I am not able to try very least we suspect wear on the volume 

out preamps or speakers, and when I control, but a leaky capacitor can send 

anywhere in the world! 

Imagine getting an issue of UHF anywhere you live 

for C$4.30 including all taxes. 

Imagine subscribing for as little as C$21.50. 

Anywhere! 

www.magzee.com

DC voltage into the control and cause 

this symptom as well. We think this 

aging preamp has given you all that it 

has to give. 

What to replace it with? Newer 

Simaudio preamps would be a possibility. 

That would mean at least the P-5.3, or 

the P-7: more expensive but very good. 

Another possibility is the Copland CTA- 

305, a tube unit we still use in our Alpha 

system. Incidentally, it has a very good 

phono stage, which could advantageously 

replace your Black Cube. 

Now what about the speakers? 

We aren’t surprised that your Energy 

speakers sound more impressive than 

the smaller and simpler PSB’s, but we 

can assure you that things can indeed 

get better. Image and resolution are the 

product of precise handling of tiny bits 

of sonic information. Accurate reproduction 

of instrumental timbres depends 

on the same thing. Your preamplifier 

is the weak point right now, but once 

it’s upgraded it will be time for better 

speakers. 

Could the Focus Audio 788’s be 

the right choice? We don’t see why 

not. They will represent a considerable 

leap forward, and that’s what you want, 

because small improvements are costly. 

They will make your newly-refreshed 

system sound its best, and they’ll have 

the resolution to reveal in satisfactory 

fashion the further improvements you 

will continue to make. 

What do you think of four-outlet 

electrical boxes instead of the conventional 

duplex outlet? My dealer 

recommends this, but I worry about the 

splitting of the primary electrical wiring 

and its effect on sound. 

Mike Ranfft 

VICTORIA, BC 

All methods of plugging multiple 

products into one power line are compromises, 

Mike. If you install four 

outlet boxes — thus eight AC outlets 

in all — the first pair will be providing 

better power. That’s where you’ll want to 

plug your amplifier, for instance, because 

it needs all the current it can get. The 

second outlet pair, being piggybacked on 

the first, will be a little less good, and the 

third and fourth less good yet. It’s easy 

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to exaggerate the problem, however, and 

if the installation is done properly the 

performance hit will be minor. 

But if you plug components into a 

power bar, even an excellent one, you’ll 

find similar compromises. The outlets of 

the power bar will also be piggybacked, 

and the current will first flow through a 

long cord and an extra pair of connectors. 

That’s not likely to be better. Of 

course some power bars are also power 

line filters, and if they’re well designed 

that is definitely the way to go. 

I have subscribed to your magazine 

from the very first issue and continue 

to look forward to each new one. Your 

knowledge and candid assessment of 

new products and industry events is very 

refreshing and much appreciated. 

I just acquired a used pair of Living 

Voice Avatar OBX-R2 speakers — the 

same speakers as in your reference 

system. They are in perfect cosmetic 

condition and sound wonderful. However, 

from the time I first hooked them 


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up, a low-level hum came from both left 

and right speakers, audible from within 

the room when no music is playing. 

The speakers are connected with 

custom Silver Spirit speaker cables 

made by Bogdan Audio, which I also 


purchased from the same gentleman. 

Prior to inserting the LV speakers and 

cables my system was dead silent. There 

was absolutely no hiss or hum of any kind 

from the speakers (Totem Forest) or any 

system component. I tried other speaker 

cables. However, the low level hum was 

still present. 

My system consists of a Hovland 

HP100 preamp, Wyetech Onyx mono 

amps, VPI TNT V turntable, Magnum 

Dynalab MD108 tuner, Bel Canto CD 

player and Isotek Sigma power conditioner. 

All power cords and interconnects 

are by Gutwire, except the phono, 

which is a Hovland. The crossovers are 

placed on the floor just 4 to 6 inches 

from the back of each speaker. I would 

appreciate your thoughts on what might 

be causing this. 

I am struggling with whether it is a 

simple placement issue (e.g., interference 

from a power cord or something), 

an issue with the speakers or associated 

crossovers, or simply a normal condition 

inherent in the speaker design. I look 

forward to hearing from you as I weigh 

whether or not I should return the speakers 

(which I am reluctant to do as they 

sound fabulous). 

Ian Mackay 

KEMPTVILLE, ON 

Cables and speaker placement are 

not a solution, Ian. The fault is in your 

power amplifiers, which have too high 

a residual hum level. Contact Wyetech 

about this. 

Why didn’t you hear the hum with 

your previous speakers? The more 

sensitive the speakers, the louder an 

amplifier’s residual hum or hiss will 

seem. Totem speakers have relatively 

low sensitivity, at 87 dB, whereas Living 

Voice speakers have a sensitivity of 94 

dB, well above average. The background 

hum will be more than four times as 

loud. This is a common problem with 

horn speakers, which can have sensitivity 

of 103 dB or more. 

However hum should be inaudible 

at listening position, and it seems likely 

your amplifiers need service. 

I would like to buy a stereo digital-toanalog 

converter with a volume control 

to connect between my CD player and 

my integrated amplifier. The idea is to 

improve the audio fidelity (the external 

DAC being higher fi than the internal 

one) and allow me to adjust the volume 

of various CDs’ output without using 

the volume control on my integrated 

amplifier (for recording purposes). 

My components are not hi-fi (CD 

player $250, integrated amplifier $500), 

thus I’m looking for a low budget DAC 

and would be very grateful if you could 

suggest one or two models. 

Roy Chant 

WHITBY, ON 

Participate in Free Advice! 

The Free Advice section was actually in our very first issue, and it is 

one element that makes UHF different from other magazines. It’s not 

that our ears are any better than yours, but we have, collectively, many 

years of experience. Perhaps we’ve learned something that can help you. 

You can submit your own question on line at uhfmail@uhfmag.com, 

but note a couple of conditions. 

Your question (and of course our answer) may be used in the on-line 

version on our site, and it may also be used in the print version. For those 

reasons, you need to supply your name and your home city. 

(Can you submit a question and specify that it not be used? Yes…but 

that’s a paid consultation service, currently costing $50/hour. Contact us 

for details.) 

Roy, if “low-budget” means prices 

like those of your player and amplifier, 

there’s nothing we can really recommend. 

Such products do exist, no doubt, 

but the odds of one being better than the 

DAC inside your CD player are rather 

long. Chances are it would use the same 

chips as the player, and you’ll have to add 

a digital cable besides. 

You don’t mention how you will be 

recording. If you’ll be doing it digitally, 

using a computer, you can choose 

software that lets you adjust volume 

digitally. This is not ideal, and you may 

prefer to use a digital recording box (the 

Edirol UA-25 is the one we use), which 

you can connect to the tape out jacks 

on your amplifier. Of course that means 

the sound makes an unnecessary trip

through analog. If the component you’re 

looking for is to be at the heart of a much 

higher quality system, you might look at 

the Benchmark DAC1. It will, however, 

be by far the most expensive link in your 

present chain. 

I own a 2.5 meter DH Labs Power 

Plus AC cable. It has 12-gauge conductors 

and is fitted with Wattgate economy 

power plug and IEC connector. My cable 

serves to connect a Furutech ETP-60 

to a dedicated hospital-grade AC outlet. 

Would it make sense to upgrade the 

connectors, and if so, what would be a 

good choice? Otherwise, would a better 

cable be in order ? 

On another subject, there is a hum 

coming from my Audio A nalogue 

Enigma. The Enigma is a three-in-one 

small but heavy box (amplifier/CD player 

and tuner). Less often, the hum can also 

be heard from my Naim Supernait. The 

hum varies in intensity and there is no 

clear pattern of occurrence (day vs night). 

Hopefully, the hum does not reach the 

speakers, but I am curious to understand 

its source. I cross my fingers that it does 

not damage my equipment. 

Jean-François Mondou 

SAINT-HUBERT, QC 

Jean-François, if the hum you hear 

is mechanical, caused by vibration, we 

wouldn’t worry about it. The source is 

usually the power transformer, which 

carries a considerable amount of 60 Hz 

alternating current. Though the nowcommon 

toroidal transformers are supposed 

to be less prone to vibration than 

the more traditional rectangular-shaped 

transformers, they can be a source of 

mechanical noise too. The noise can 

increase somewhat with time, as heat 

softens the compound in which the 

transformer is sealed, and it can also vary 

with ambient temperature. If the bolts 

holding the transformer to the chassis 

loosen slightly, the hum can get worse, 

because then the chassis will be vibrating 

as well. Unless the hum is objectionable 

from listening position, we recommend 

ignoring it. 

You may be able to improve your 

power cord by changing the economy 

Wattgate connectors. Wattgate does 

make several better models, and so by 

the way does Furutech — we have had 

good results with the Furutech copper 

IEC plug. Before proceeding, however, 

make sure that the plugs on your power 

cable have not been sealed shut. If they 

have, you’ll have to cut the cable short, 

strip it, and dress the leads for the new 

connectors. With a 12-gauge cable, that 

won’t be a project you’ll look forward 

to. 

My current system consists of a pair 

of KLH-6 speakers from the 1970’s, 

which I consider to be superior, from 

a purely musical point of view, to just 

about anything out there regardless 

of price (the only thing I’d ever trade 

them for would be a brand new pair 

of AR3a’s — which are impossible to 

find — although the midrange on the 6’s 

is actually more solid than the 3a’s.) The 

Sixes were driven by an AR integrated 

amp, also from the 70’s, which finally 

gave out on me last year. I’m not going 

to go on about the virtues of a $250 amp 

that could knock the screw terminals off 

any amp costing ten to twenty times or 

more than that today. Suffice it to say 

that it had a virtually perfect 10 kHz 

square wave response, the likes of which 

I do not see today in any amp at any price. 

It had dual transformers for independent 

channel supply, unlike the single toroidal 

monsters one pays thousands of dollars 

for today, and a damping factor of 100, 

which allowed good tight control of the 

woofers. 

In any event, I am thinking of replacing 

it with either a Luxman 505u integrated 

amp or the Creek Destiny, both 

of which are 100 watt per channel amps, 

with the Luxman just edging out the 

Destiny in distortion levels, frequency 

response flatness, and noise and channel 

separation, not to mention having a 

wider range of user features, such as tone 

controls. 

My problem is this: there is no way 

I can hear them with the Sixes without 

actually purchasing them, and since 

there are no acoustic suspension designs 

in stores these days — everything seems 

to be some kind of ported vent design, 

which I’ve never cared for — I have no 

idea if they’ll work well with this kind 

of classic speaker design. Also, the Sixes, 

which have paper cones, and which 

require a minimum of 25 watts rms, have 

never been driven with more than 60 

watts rms continuous, so I’m wondering 

if there’s any danger of 100 watts blowing 

the cones. 

Sanford Klavansky 

NEW YORK, NY 

Well, Sanford, first off we suggest 

not worrying about a possible mismatch 

between the amplifier power rating 

and the power that was commonly 

recommended when your speakers were 


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new. Chat with any competent speaker 

designer over a beer, and by the second 

brew he’ll ’fess up that his speaker power 

rating doesn’t mean a whole lot, and 

that’s especially true of the maximum 

recommended power. But, you know, 

people expect a number, so what are you 

going to do? 

When you think about it, it seems 

obvious. What possible advantage could 

there be to having the amplifier distort 

and compress when you turn up its 

volume? Would that protect the speakers? 

Quite the opposite. Distorted sound 

is rich in unnatural harmonics that are 

great for blowing tweeters. The problem 

is at the other end of the power range: 

can the amplifiers you’re looking at 

drive these acoustic suspension speakers 

adequately? 

Raw power is not the only criterion. 

The reason acoustic suspension speakers 

fell out of favor is that they were, by 

modern standards, wickedly insensitive. 

They required huge amounts of power. 

You may know that modern speakers, 

even those of conventional technology, 

have sensitivity ratings around 92 dB. 

Acoustic suspension speakers commonly 

had sensitivity ratings that, in today’s 

terms, might be around 78 dB. That 

means the older speaker needed 25 times 

more power than that efficient modern 

speaker. At the same time these smaller 

speakers had limited headroom. 

The Luxman should have little difficulty 

driving your KLH speakers to a 

respectable level. The Creek Destiny is 

also a beefy amp, and should be up to 

the job. We would add only not to put 

too much stock in common published 

specs such as harmonic distortion. Better 

harmonic distortion figures are all too 

often obtained through techniques that 

are not good for music and other living 

things. 

I have a Hafler DH-200 amplifier 

which I love. Unfortunately the left 

channel has started to overheat which 

causes the output to cut in and out. 

I paid $400 for it used in 1986. Is it 

worth repairing? 

Paul Coaker 

MISSISSAUGA, ON 

Paul, unless you happen to know a 

clever tinkerer who works cheap, we’d 

say no. 

The overheating could be caused by 

the failure of a single component, such 

as a resistor, but a more likely contributing 

factor is the gradual breakdown 

of the silicone compound that bonds 

the output transistors thermally to the 

heat sink. The intermittent cutting out 

may be a sign that the overheating is 

causing failures elsewhere. After three 

decades, it is also possible that certain 

key components, such as capacitors, are 

nearing the end of their useful life… 

and the overheating isn’t helping them 

any. By the way, the DH-200 used to be 

available as a kit, so your amp may not 

have been assembled at the factory. 

We would organize a solemn funeral, 

to express gratitude for the very good 

value you’ve received all these years 

Many new audio receivers list themselves 

as 7.1-channel, and also list dts ES 

and Dolby EX as options. 

Assuming 7.1 in Blu-ray indicates two 

additional side channels and 6.1 standard 

DVD means one speaker behind the 

listener, how can the listener set up his 

speakers? Must he choose to wire for 

exclusively one format,, or will there be 

enough speaker outs to handle 9 (counting 

the .1) channels? I was told that, in 

at least one case, 9 outs means 7.1 plus a 

stereo pair for a different zone. 

Salespeople have not been informed 

of the issue, much less the answer. 

John Elliott 

TRURO, NS 

It’s confusing, no question, John. 

Perhaps the nine outputs are for 7.2 

channels, with provisions for two 

subwoofers. 

Dolby EX and dts ES are obsolescent 

playback formats. Intended to work with 

conventional (i.e. highly compressed) 

DVD sound, they use sonic steering 

techniques like those in Dolby Pro- 

Logic to simulate extra channels. There 

is an actual dts format with 6.1 channels, 

but it is rarely used and is not likely to 

have a future. Setting up speakers for 

surround sound is difficult enough, 

but setting up different configurations 

for different discs…well, that way lies 

madness.

The best sound available from 

Blu-ray is uncompressed: either Dolby 

TrueHD or dts-HD. If you have good 

gear capable of handling it, we don’t suggest 

mucking it up by adding channels 

that are just made up. 

I recently came across your wonderful 

magazine while delayed in an airport. 

I was particularly interested in a comment 

made by your editors in response 

to a question about ripping CDs onto a 

computer (issue No. 86, letter from Jeff 

Tennant). In the response Windows 

Vista is not recommended because 

“with 16/44 data it lowers the volume 

to 90% of normal, thus truncating the 

bitstream.” 

Could you please clarify what this 

means? Is the audio file compromised 

somehow as it is being ripped from the 

CD (i.e., the resulting WAV file is now 

an imperfect representation of the CD)? 

Or is the comment referring to playback 

using Windows Media Player (i.e., the 

player somehow butchers a “perfect” 

WAV file)? If it is the latter, can you avoid 

the problem by using a different playback 

program or an external DAC? 

As you might guess from the questions, 

I have a Windows Vista computer 

(64-bit) that I plan to use as the basis for 

a music server. 

Paul Rubas 

BURKE, VA 

Paul, you may be better off with the 

64-bit version of Vista than the majority 

of Windows users, who use the 32-bit 

version. Vista is a whale of a big system, 

and its processing overhead often causes 

glitches. Pro audio users, the ones who 

don’t use Macs, complain about it. 

Our warning about Vista quoted the 

advice of Steve Nugent of Empirical 

Audio. If he is correct, it would mean 

that Vista lowers the volume, and thus 

the resolution, of music played through 

it. However we don’t know whether 

that blanket statement stands up. We do 

know that, with Vista, Microsoft altered 

radically the way Windows handles 

audio. Certainly it did so for good 

reasons, but the change caused huge 

problems for sound card manufacturers, 

whose drivers no longer worked well, 

or indeed no longer worked at all. The 

A QUIET REVOLUTION 

INTRODUCING THE QUIESSENCE SERIES FROM ETI 

Internet is full of complaints by Vista 

users who have found that audio from 

their computers has become low, hissy, 

or even inaudible. 

Good news: the release candidate for 

Windows 7 has arrived and can already 

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be downloaded. Here’s hoping it doesn’t 

cause more problems than it solves. 

As for Windows Media Player, you 

should definitely use something else. 

Foobar is known to work well, as is 

JRiver. 

FREE ADVICE ON LINE! 

www.uhfmag.com/FreeAdvice.html 


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Of course the show was slimmer 

this year, and unless 

you’ve just landed from an 

extended vacation on Venus 

you know why. 

Yet the exhibitors I talked to were 

quite happy with their investment. Visitors 

had still turned out in droves, and 

fewer rooms meant more visitors per 

room. Elementary. Still, some exhibitors 

had a wish list. See Looking Ahead on 

page 20. 

The visitors had their own wish 

list. The Sheraton has narrow room 

entrances that turn into bottlenecks 

when there is appreciable traffic. What 

about a better venue? 

The smaller exhibitor list had an 

upside. Some of the noisiest and most 

annoying and inconsiderate exhibitors 

were among the absent. Of course you 

don’t expect me to name them, or do 

you? On the other hand, Mutine wasn’t 

there either, and that company’s twin 

rooms had often been described as an 

oasis in the middle of the desert. More 


FEATURES 

A Slimmer Montreal Show 

attendance next year? We can hope. 

One aspect of the show that both 

surprised and pleased me was the continuing 

— and growing — strength of 

vinyl. There were many good turntables, 

not only on show but actually spinning 

records. You can see just a few of them 

on page 23. Better yet, and in contrast to 

some years past, they were set up so that 

the advantages of vinyl were apparent 

even to those who were born 

digitally. 

Definitely notable is the 

analog-oriented tee shirt on page 

24. Too bad the slogan can’t be 

translated into French! 

Something else that pleased 

me was the presence of at least 

a few products that gave the lie 

to the all-too-common claim 

that hi-fi is only for the rich and 

crazy. An example: the Lil’ Doosey 

monoblock, shown on this page. Built 

by a company with the possibly appro- 


priate name of Mass Fidelity, the little 

amp (class AB, too, not some offshoot 

of class D or T) is $399. Unfortunately 

that’s each, but even so… The amps were 

playing through a pair of Reference 3a 

De Capos, and sounding sweet as far as 

I could tell in the questionable acoustics 

of the hallway. 

Then there’s the JohnBlue JB3 

speaker — that’s the grey one at bottom 

right on the next page. Right next to it 

is the KingRex amplifier, which really is 

a class T amplifier. Those, plus the Sony 

DVD player that was the source, would 

go for under $1000. 

But I also have an eye for truly 

luxurious goods, such as the Arabesque 

glass speaker on the next page. That has 

a story behind it. It’s the product of a 

company called Crystal Cable, founded 

by Gabi van der Kley, shown here with 

her speaker. What’s surprising is that 

Gabi’s husband is the boss of Siltech 

Cable. “Are they still married?” wondered 

Steve Bourke. Indeed, and in fact 

there was a Siltech poster in one corner 

of the large room. 

That room was in fact an impediment, 

and it was almost exactly square besides. 

The first day the speakers sounded 

awful, despite the upscale Simaudio gear 

plugged into them, suggesting that the 

45,000 € price

might be going into mere glitz. 

On the final day the speakers 

had been repositioned, 

and they began to sound truly 

excellent. In a better room, this 

might be a really fine performer. 

The speaker above left is an interesting 

one, from Winnipeg. The Coherent 8 Phy 

Si is faced with 

flaming birch, 

an old-growth 

wood you can’t 

find anymore 

(Indians used 

to ma ke fast 

canoes from it). 

But 19th Century 

wood mills were a 

little careless, and 

some of their stock 

wound up at the bottoms of 

rivers. Well preserved by the water, 

it is a treasure from the past. A pair runs 

$14,500. 

The source, incidentally, was 

an all-digital component shown at 

the bottom of the next page, and 

still in pre-release form. You load 

your music into it, and then play it 

back the way you want. It was get- 

ting mixed reviews 

for its sound (I rather 

liked it, actually), but 

the sheer practicality 

of the unit was obvious 

to everyone. 

Another new speaker was the Avalon Aspect, bottom left 

on the next page. The lines of this $8500 speaker evoke the 

familiar angular Avalon shape. Teamed with a Clearaudio 

Performance turntable and VTL tube electronics, it exhibited 

power and dynamics, and a broad range of frequencies. 

Perhaps you’ve noticed the two impressive-looking pillared 

components at left, a CD player and a preamplifier. 

They’re prototypes from Exposure, and if 

you associate that British 

company with austere 

chassiswork, perhaps 

they grabbed your eye. 

They certainly grabbed 

mine. Here’s 


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Features 

Looking Ahead 

incidentally, 

and you can 

expect to read 

more ab out 

t h at i n ou r 

The exhibitors at this year’s Salon 

pages shortly. 

were scarcer than usual, and no one 

Suffice it to say 

is more keenly aware of it than CEO 

that it is one of 

Michel Plante. 

the most excit- 

Would the Salon even break even? 

ing recent devel- 

“That’s not even certain,” he told us, 

opments in the 

and he plans to canvass the stakehold- 

world of digital 

ers — that is, the people who do or should 

audio. 

exhibit — on what he should do next. 

The speaker 

When the torch was passed to him three 

at bottom right is 

years ago, he moved the show from the 

the Verity Parsifal 

Delta hotel to the huge Centre Sheraton 

Monitor. If it looks 

complex, which offered a much greater 

smaller than you 

array of large rooms to accommodate 

expect a Verity 

companies like Apple, Sony, Canon and 

speaker to look, 

Nintendo, to choose only those examples. 

it’s because it is the top 

And it worked…once. But it was clear this year that the Salon’s core clientele, the part of the Parsifal full- 

high end two-channel industry that has kept it going over more than two decades, range speaker, mounted on a stand of 

was what remained strong. 

adjustable height. It’s $10,000 the pair, 

And several owners of major stores told us that what still works for them in a not including either the stand or the 

time of trouble is two-channel stereo. Why More than a home free theatre. version? Rocco subwoofer (Verity is maintaining 

A number of exhibitors confided in us what their own wish is: a move back to the its penchant for operatic names — Rocco 

Delta, with its acoustically superior rooms. For years Plante now, has we heard have the been same publishing, thing. And on our was Web a character site, a free in PDF Beethoven’s opera 

he knows he has work to do. “I’m version tired of of advertising our magazine. that someone like Marantz Fidelio, sung by a bass). Nice-sounding. 

will be there,” he said, “and then getting The just reason a couple is simple. of receivers.” We know you’re looking for Disappointing information, and was the impressively- 

In August we got the word: the that Salon is will almost move, certainly but not why back you’ve to the come Delta to with visit our styled site. Herald And that’s loudspeaker why shown at top 

its impossibly-congested elevators, we but give to away the what Bonaventure. some competitors It sits atop consider a huge to be left a startlingly on page 22. large Looks like the natural 

convention space (which will be hosting amount the of National information…for Home Show free. that week) and child of B&W, no? In fact this $7000 

has loading docks aplenty, as well as its We very would own give Métro it all station. away The for free, chosen if we dates: could still self-powered stay in business. speaker is from China. The 

March 25-28 (the 25th is for trade and Recent press only). figures indicate that each issue is getting accompanying downloaded as electronics many 

Got suggestions? Drop by the show’s as 100,000 Web times, site: www.salonsonimage.com. 

and that figure keeps growing. looked just as impres- 

Yes, we know, if we had a nickel for each download… sive. This gear has 

h o p i n g t h eTruth y other is, we’re times in the I’ve business heard it, of but helping it was you enjoy potential, music though at home 

sound as good under the fed best from possible a PS conditions. Audio player And that movies may too. for We’ll now do it’s what a little we need 

as they look. to do in not order have to get been the working information quite to perfectly. you. bland. I want to 

O n e m o rOf e course, That player, we also by want the you way, to read was the our one published keep editions an eye on too. it. We 

speaker: hope t he that, I had having heard read in this Vegas far, playing you’ll want some to of read on. 

The next show 

Audio Physics Reference Recordings’ remarkable HRx we’ll be covering 

Virgo, shown recordings. I wanted to get a second is of course CES 

at top right. It listen, but on subsequent days the lineups in Vegas in early 

should have were long…which may of course be a January. The Mon- 

sounded ter- good sign. 

treal Salon returns 

rific, as it has We’ve done our own experiments on the final weekend 

with HRx, in March at the new 

venue, the spectacular 

Hotel 

B o n a v e nt u r e . 

Did I mention 

the four-season 

outdoor 

s w i m m i n g 

pool? 

20 ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine

Touring the Show With Guests 

“Y 

ou know,” said Marc as we 

were going up the stairs to 

another level, “we can spend two hours sitting 

together on the couch at home, Carmen and 

I, listening to music.” Reaching the landing he paused, and 

added dreamily, “We just sit there quietly, eyes closed.” 

Marc had met me at the entrance after leaving his office, 

and we were starting the tour, planning to continue with 

Carmen as soon as she could join us. Marc is a long time reader 

of UHF and, like other readers, he has learned to trust his ears. 

He is knowledgeable about audio gear but rarely talks about it 

for the sake of technical features. He’d 

rather talk about the Montreal Symphony 

Orchestra concerts they attend 

each season, or the youth brass outdoor 

concerts near Sherbrooke, which they 

never miss in the summer. 

Thinking of eventually upgrading 

his amplifier, he was quite keen on listening 

to the new units from Simaudio. 

After a few minutes he asked to listen 

to the CD he had brought, Christopher 

Hogwood’s version of Mozart’s Eine 

Kleine Nachtmusik with the Academy 

of Ancient Music. I find period instruments, 

especially higher strings, difficult 

to reproduce. They often sound 

thin to me, lacking in volume and 

resonance. That’s what I was thinking 

when we heard the first movement with 

Simaudio’s new line of Moon i-5 integrated 

amp and CD-.5 player. “I wonder 

why the musicians sound so distant,” 

said Marc. I thought they sounded surprisingly 

good, considering the price of 

these high quality, entry-level units. A 

project which started two or three years 

ago, explained Simaudio’s Gilbert Guimond, a 

way of reaching a wider range of potential customers through 

a wider range of outlets. Well done, I thought. 

But when Marc heard his CD played through the much 

more expensive new combination 

of an i-3.3 amp and CD-3.3 

player, a large 

smile appeared. Clockwise from top right: 

“ T h at ’s qu it e t he massive Focal 

a d if ference,” Grand Utopia EM, 

he said, staring Grant Fidelity’s version 

at the image in of the famed LS3/5a, 

space. I had to the original Lafleur 

agree. It was truly Audio speaker (in a 

wonderful. non-release finish), and 

Noticing the the new Spendor A-6 

transparent Crys- speakers. 

by Albert Simon 

tal Arabesque speakers in another room, 

Marc was doubtful. After listening to 

my Schubert’s Stabat Mater CD, he looked at me with raised 

eyebrows, “It sounds even better,” he exclaimed and I pointed 

to the help the stunning speakers got, in this case a combination 

of Moon CD-5.3 player, Moon P-5.3 preamp and W-5.3 

power amp. He nodded. 

The large room of Multi-Électronique featured a pair of 

huge, third-generation Focal Grand 

Utopia EM speakers. At 573 

lbs each, they are heftier than 

most audiophiles, and proved 

they can speak louder than most 

when driven by the Esoteric line 

of power amps linked to the P-01 

transport, G-ORb clock unit and 

a mono D-01 DAC for each channel. 

The result was a spectacular 

performance of Dvorak’s New 

World Symphony by the Vienna 

Philharmonic Orchestra conducted 

by Istvan Kertesz. Did I say spectacular? 

It was riveting to hear 

this original Decca performance, 

recently remastered as an SACD/ 

CD hybrid by Esoteric using 

their best equipment — most of 

it found in that room — and you 

may be glad to know that they also 

produced a 200 gram vinyl LP 

of that performance. We walked 

out silently and blended with 

the rest of the world in the 

hallway. 

We then met Carmen and 

entered the Filtronique room, featuring 

a Scarlatti dCS player, an Audio 

Research preamp, an Ayre power amp and a pair of Klimt 

Series speakers from Vienna Acoustics. An LP version of Anne 

Bisson’s recent album Blue Mind was on. Carmen and Marc 

both said how natural it sounded, 

Carmen noticing that the piano 

was superbly round. “We can 

easily hear all the 

notes well separated, 

even in the 

softest parts,” she 

added. She didn’t 

care for Mozart’s 

Nachtmusik on CD, 

however, saying she 

“much preferred 

listening to t he 

piano” (yes, she 


Feedback 

Features

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Features 

might be partial At left: the dramatically styled speaker ent textures. “It 

to the instru- from Herald. At right: the return of sounds so different 

m e n t , s i n c e Pierre Gabriel’s Presence II speaker. from everything 

she plays piano Below: the PMC OB1 speaker 

we’ve heard so far,” 

at home), and 

said Carmen. “It’s 

we all enjoyed synthesizers joining forces to unglue almost as if there 

Schubert’s the wallpaper our collective nails were were too much 

Stabat Mater, desperately attempting to scrape. What of it,” she added, 

Marc noticing a sorry time it might be if all that music trying to express 

how different it lovers know are piles of various tunes, her amazement. 

sounded here. irreverently played by unknown groups “They never had 

As we pro- with no reference to the original pieces, turntables such as 

gressed we came their music reduced to tunes, lasting this one in those 

upon the CD no longer than a song, fitting the short days,” said Marc, 

version of Blue attention span of people raised on a fast- “to really appreci- 

Mind played in food diet of random play. 

ate the quality of 

another room, There. I feel better now. 

the recordings they 

and something Back at Gemme Audio, a wonder- made.” 

Get the complete version 

very interestful jazz piece was playing and Carmen We e n t e r e d 

ing happened. danced along as she walked in. It featured another spacious 

No, this free version is not complete, though you could spend a couple 

Carmen called me the Phénix Green Gem monitors coupled room to listen 

of hours reading it. Want the full version? 

aside. “Why does it sound kind of cut with a pair of large 38 cm subwoofers to the recently 

You can, of course, order the print version, which we have published 

up?” she asked in a hushed voice. “When built into a rare wood cabinet. The designed Parsifal 

for a quarter of a century. You can get it from our back issues page. 

we heard it before, it flowed, it was like CD player and amplifier were made in Ovation speakers by 

But we also have a paid electronic version, which is just like this one, 

a wave, we flowed along with it,” she France by Neodio. You should have been Verity Audio, coupled 

except that it doesn’t have annoying banners like this one, and it doesn’t 

added. (I’m not making this up, I wrote there to see Carmen and Marc jump off with the Rocco subwoofers. A track 

have articles tailing off into faux Latin. Getting the electronic version is of 

her exact words in my notebook right their seats when the next piece began. from The Tango Saloon was playing 

course faster, and it is also cheaper. It costs just $4.30 (Canadian) anywhere 

then.) I looked at her with a reassur- 

It was Aaron Copland’s on the dCS Scarlatti player, an album 

in the world. Taxes, if they are applicable, are included. 

ing smile and said that, with a few 

Fanfare for the Common described as a joyful blend of “…Piazzola 

It’s available from MagZee.com. 

words and an image, she had just 

Man, and it opens with and Morricone…mixed with country, 

expressed the difference between 

a sudden, thunderous jazz, Cuban and electronic music…” It 

digital and analog. I watched Marc 

blast of bass drum and was indeed a joy to see the instruments 

and he had the audiophile’s I-told- 

large gong. “The trum- freely dancing in front of us around the 

you-so kind of grin. 

pets are beautiful,” said pyramid-shaped Nagra power amplifier. 

Contrast that with the other 

Carmen later, appre- “It is so clear,” said Carmen, “that we can 

extreme. I’ve got to tell you this. 

ciating the shiny brass easily distinguish the individual sounds 

Later that day I went to the 

sound quality we all of the various instruments.” I don’t know 

room where Lafleur Audio speak- 

heard, and Marc added why I added, “It’s as if the musicians left 

ers were featured. I know how 

that this system is well the room and their instruments started 

good they sound and Steve had 

matched to the power to play all by themselves.” 

been impressed and suggested 

of the sound. 

In the Divergent Technologies room, 

that I give them a listen. When 

In the middle of the Marc’s CD was given a magic treatment, 

I arrived, there was a big young 

large Coup de Foudre and Carmen remarked that the sound 

guy sitting in the front seat, in 

room, stood a pair of was mellower than in other rooms. 

a room slightly bigger than the 

Wilson Audio Maxx I noted that it encouraged us to take 

elevator that brought us. With a 

Speakers linked to a more time and listen longer. “That’s it,” 

booming voice, he was asking the 

pair of superbly styled she confirmed. The true reasons may 

very polite and courteous person 

Pathos power amps and have been the emmLabs CDSA player, 

in charge to play his CD, a track 

a Clearaudio turntable. Antique Sound Lab amplifiers and the 

called The Prayer. “This is a big 

The music of Home Reference 3a Episode speakers. 

piece, pump up the volume!” he 

Cookin’, the 1958 soul “Aaah!!” sighed Marc as soon as he 

ordered. “Can your speakers play 

jazz recording by The heard Mozart’s Nachtmusik in the Blue- 

loud? I listen very loud!” And, in 

Incredible Jimmy Smith, bird room, “look at the space!” 

this tiny room, the rest of us 

filled the room, creating “Its beautiful,” added Carmen — not 

were subjected to a catastrophic 

a 3-D stage filled with too many words, too busy listening. They 

imitation of Carl Orff’s Carmina 

a wonderfully natural were standing in front of the new Spen- 

Burana with choirs, percussion and 

sound and transpardor A6 speakers, the music originating 


from the Exposure CD player through 

the Exposure 3010S integrated amp. “It 

doesn’t have the roundness of vinyl,” said 

Carmen on the way out. (Interesting 

to listen to her, I thought, she already 

sounds like a old-timer.) 

A sound that really caught their 

interest was in the Audiophonie room. 

Turntable manufacturer Thorens has 

produced a triple LP celebrating its 

125th anniversary, and one of the jazz 

cuts was playing on the Oracle Delphi 

MkV turntable, the signal going through 

the Parasound JC2 preamp, a pair of 

Parasound JC1 power amps, and reaching 

us through a pair of British-made 

PMC OB1 speakers and APC Power 

Conditioner. “I can’t get over the sound 

that’s coming out of this system,” said 

Marc, soon after taking his seat. “It 

sounds as if we’re right there, live,” added 

Carmen. At the end of the piece some 

of the performers chat briefly on 

stage and Carmen, caught by surprise, 

suddenly turned around to see who was 

speaking in the room. 

The next day I met with Laetitia 

and Denis, and before starting our tour 

Clockwise from top left: the Oracle Delphi 

MkV, the Clearaudio Innovation, 

the Clearaudio Champion, amateur 

designer Sylvain Pichette’s hand-built 

table (not for sale unless of course you 

twist his arm), and the Clearaudio 

Performance. 

they felt the need to talk 

about their experience in 

high fidelity over a cup of 

coffee. I had introduced 

Denis and their two teenagers 

last year to the same 

event in Montreal, and 

during the following 

months, that visit had 

led them to Mutine products. With 

the help of Pascal Ravach they now have 

an excellent system at home. It was a 

family decision, and they were happily 

surprised to report that their teenagers 

UHF on your desktop 

M 

were really enjoying listening to music 

A Z 

now. “I thought high fidelity meant that 

what you hear must always be equally 

beautiful,” said Laetitia, “and that’s 

not what we enoticed 

with some of our e 

recordings.” 

“Well, your system is trying to recreate 

the original venue,” I suggested, 

“it reproduces the event as faithfully as 

possible, and if there are flaws they’ll be 

well reproduced too.” 

G 

UHF anywhere, C$4.30 

including taxes. 

www.uhfmag.com/ 

ElectronicEdition.html 

“I remember when I first met Denis,” 

she continued dreamily. “He used to 

explain everything to me and helped 

me discover all kinds of music. After 

we got married we moved to an 

old house with our kids. There 

was charm and a wonderful 

atmosphere, the music was 

always on and we used to 

dance with the children. A 

few years later, we moved to a new 

house, the architecture was plain, 

lines were straight, everything 

seemed bare. There was no 

more music at home,” There 

was sadness in her eyes. “And 

now, in an older house again, 

with our new system, music is back.” 

Large smile. 

We went from room to room and 

I let them choose the ones in which 

they wished to sit and listen, my 

point being to record their impressions 

as any other visitors to the 

Salon. Having lived with a good 

system at home over a few months, 

their comments were…well, 

scarce. A subtle glance at each 

other, a we’re-done-here kind 

of nod, a what-can-I-say kind 

of sigh with raised eyebrows. 

Sometimes, Denis would say “It 

just seems…too 

round,” and Laetitia 

would add, “the highs 

are not quite clear…” 

As I said, scarce. 

Then we entered the Pierre 

Gabriel room, where the Presence 

II speakers were featured, recalling 

their debut 15 years ago. Everything 

else was by Jadis, except of course for 

the Pierre Gabriel cables. I wanted 

them to hear a track of Sur les Quais, a 

great CD by Daniel Mille’s ensemble of 

small accordion (called accordina), piano, 

double bass, guitar and 

drums. The dimly-lit room seemed illuminated 

by the freshness of the playing 

and the irresistible 

rhythm. Laetitia 

a n d D e n i s 

uttered not a 

word, staring 

intently at the stage 

created in front of them and 

felt, to use Denis’ own words “into 

the music.” We then listened to Anne 


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Features

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Bisson’s intimate interpretation of a 

Brahms Volkslied (folk song) masterfully 

recorded by Fidelio (using their tube 

microphone). No comments during 

the music. More staring. “I felt myself 

letting go of everything and going off 

with the music,” explained Laetitia once 

we were out in the hallway, “I still have 

it going in my head.” Denis appreciated 

it too, though he would have preferred 

it louder. “I need to feel I am getting 

into the music, that I am part of it,” he 

explained. “At home, we’re often telling 

him to turn it down,” added Laetitia with 

a tolerant smile. Sound familiar? Minus 


the smile, you say? 

They found the ecofriendly 

Coherent speakers 

fascinating, when I explained 

that they were made of solid 

burl maple harvested in water 

up to 18 metres deep. They 

had no comments on the 

sound, however (which I 

thought was quite good). And 

they blended silently with the 

slow crowds in the hallway. 

By the way, as you walk through the 

corridors and the many different rooms, 

did you ever take time to spot the two 

extreme categories of audiophiles? There 

are the ones who chat constantly, before, 

during and after listening to every 

single system they encounter, having an 

opinion on everything and insisting on 

sharing it. Then you’ll notice the others, 

the silent types who travel in a daze, 

it seems, room to room, floor to floor, 

wrapped up in their thoughts, yet aware 

of every new product, as they gather with 

a slow and practised reach, every single 

piece of information and pamphlet. 

In one of the Coup de Foudre rooms, 

Sam Hopkins’ blues LP Lightnin’ was 

playing on a Clearaudio turntable with 

a tube-powered Leben CS600 integrated 

amp and DeVore Fidelity’s The Nines 

speakers. “Wonderful atmosphere,” said 

Denis. “I wonder if it’s due to vinyl,” 

asked Laetitia. Denis smiled knowingly. 

In the other room, another LP gave life 

to Mary Gauthier’s haunting voice in 

Mercy Now. “Formidable!” was the one 

Yes, it’s interactive 

word that sprung spontaneously out 

of my visiting couple. For those of you 

who are still wondering if they liked it, 

formidable can be translated as terrific, 

tremendous, gorgeous, smashing, splendid 

and, of course, awesome. The new Avalon 

Aspect speakers were linked to a Shindo 

preamp, uniquely handcrafted in Japan. 

“This preamp is formidable (see above),” 

explained André, a UHF reader I met 

right outside that room, “I thought I 

needed to replace my speakers, and then 

I tried this preamp in my system. It’s an 

amazing unit!” 

In the Audiophonie room another 

encounter with analog, Tony Bennett 

singing Chicago with Basie’s orchestra 

swinging away. Denis noticed how 

crystal clear everything sounded and 

Laetitia briefly shook her head, trying 

to get back to reality, and simply said 

“Vinyl … Whaou!” which means Wow! 

(see formidable). 

They also both loved the new Small 

is Beautiful, Fidelio’s latest release, and 

their recent Deserts by the ensemble 

La Nef on DVD-Audio. Couldn’t get 

enough of the lively percussion and 3-D 

imaging. 

However, having heard CDs and 

LPs in various rooms, including the two 

versions of Anne Bisson’s Blue Mind, 

Laetitia admitted she preferred LPs 

in every case. “I can hear the silences, 

somehow,” she said. “I can’t hear them on 

a CD.” Denis smiled knowingly again. 

(Chances are they will eventually add a 

turntable to their home system and bring 

his preciously-guarded don’t-ever-touchit 

LP collection back to life. Methinks 

family approval is building up.) 

Muddy Waters was singing as we 

walked in the large room featuring the 

Wilson-Pathos-Clearaudio combination. 

A breath of fresh air, I thought — a 

Just click on the ad on the next page, and you know what will happen? 

You’ll go right to the advertiser’s Web site…if there is one, and of course 

if you are connected to the Internet at that moment. 

Try it with any of the other ads in this issue. 

Of course it works with the full (paid) electronic issue as well. 

contrasting comment for such an urban 

music — the sound so remarkably light 

and transparent. “It can be powerful 

and, at the same time, so delicate,” 

said Laetitia, “no need to listen louder, 

one can hear the fingers sliding on the 

strings.” Denis was quiet for a while then 

added, “I am turned off by the showy 

demonstrations this year. I find myself 

attracted to the simplicity of the sound 

now.” 

Back to Marc for a bit. We walked 

Top left: an exhibit by a local audio 

museum named for recording pioneer 

Emile Berliner. Top right: a Pathos 

preamplifier

into another large room and were 

greeted by Frank Sinatra’s voice in full 

swing. The front and middle parts of 

that system were exclusively Bryston 

models, the BCD-1 player and BDA 

DAC, the BP26 preamp leading to a 

pair of hefty 28B–SST mono amps. The 

speakers were the new Martin-Logan 

CLX speakers (the curved electrostatic 

panel handling frequencies above 360 

Hz), and all those happy units enjoyed 

clean AC power from Torus Isolation 

Transformers. Frank Sinatra’s voice and 

band loved it. Stevie Ray Vaughan then 

sang Tin Pan Alley. “Do we have to go 

elsewhere?” asked Marc. I asked to hear 

American Fantasy, a homage to Leonard 

Bernstein’s West Side Story played live by 

the Safri Duo of percussionists joined 

by two pianos. The last track, America, 

starts quietly with the four musicians 

clapping in a complex rhythm, each 

occupying a clear location on the stage, 

each pair of hands sounding different 

from the others. On most systems the 

clapping of each pair of hands sound all 

the same, and the space between them 

disappears. It was also wonderful to hear 

the whole piece build up into full percussive 

power cheered by an extreme piano 

frenzy, reaching the final climax with 

a huge bass drum bang as the audience 

exploded in fireworks of applause. Wish 

you were there. 

Marc then wanted to listen to the 

opening of Mozart’s Nachtmusik and I 

could see him nodding along, smiling 

widely. “We can tell the double basses 

are located at the back,” he said pointing 

to the far side of the stage, “not near the 

violins playing in the front.” 

We also loved the Pierre Gabriel 

room, where we were treated to the 

incomparable Felix Leclerc appearing 

suddenly in 3-D, singing, of course, Moi, 

mes souliers. But, before leaving, Marc 

wanted to listen to the Audiophonie 

system again. We arrived in a hushed 

room and sat among the silent crowd. 

After listening to Eine Kleine Nachtmusik 

he was all excited, “Quite different, huh? 

The violins are period instruments, and 

they are like silk here,” he explained, “and 

Top: Carmen and Mark 

Bottom: Laetitia and Denis 

the double basses… 

well, they sound the 

way double basses 

actually sound.” 

The next piece 

we heard was Hugh 

Masekela’s Stimela 

(the last cut on side 6 

of the Thorens 125 th 

Anniversary LP). As 

it progressed, building 

its bitterness 

into a fury, people 

stopped moving around us, rooted to the 

floor or nailed to their seat, including 

Marc. I, of course, was the only sane one 

who knew that it was only a recording, 

and that we were just sitting in a hotel 

room. 

“What do you think I’m going to do, 

as soon as I get home?” asked Marc on 

his way out. Read a book or prepare a 

meal, I thought. “Listen to music on my 

system,” he answered with a smile and a 

sparkle in his eyes. 

Back to Laetitia and Denis and some 

closing comments. They wanted to know 

why Anne Bisson’s voice sounded more 

natural on her Blue Mind LP than when 

she sang the same songs live during her 

concert (which we had attended at the 

Salon earlier that same day). I 

reminded them that her voice 

was amplified during the concert, 

in order to fill the huge 

hall, and so was her piano and 

the instruments played by the 

other two musicians. We all 

agreed, however, that decent 

recordings of live concerts, 

in general, provide the best 

experience of an event, even if 

one has to sacrifice some level of 

sound quality. “Supertramp live 

is fantastic,” she said, “and yet 

the studio versions of the same 

songs don’t move me.” 

“There is something similar 

with a great action film 

documentary,” I added, as an 

analogy. “You almost expect 

the image style to be hurried 

and kind of grainy. It says we 

were there and that’s how it really 

was.” 

Denis was quietly thinking 

about what he wanted to express 

before he left. “When the music sounds 

great, I can really get into it, let it envelop 

me,” he said, “and when it’s over, I feel 

a real sadness. Just like a good book 

that you’ve read too fast because you 

were totally absorbed in it, and you find 

yourself slowing down as you reach the 

last pages.” 

They got ready to go. And then all of 

a sudden he asked me ( I’m not making 

this up, honest.) “Do you know what I’m 

going to do, as soon as I get home?” 

I knew the answer this time, but 

before I could reply Laetitia answered 

for me: “Listen to more music on our 

system, of course.” 

And she smiled with a sparkle in her 

eyes. 


Feedback 

Features

Nuts&Bolts 

Feedback 

ally it’s been a wreck for a 

long time, but we’ve all been 

pretending it wasn’t, and 

we’ve only now been forced to face the 

truth. It’s like recognizing you have termites 

only when you were on the second 

floor and you suddenly find yourself in 

the basement. 

For the high end industry, it’s the 

second stage of a double whammy. First 

there’s the Internet phenomenon, which 

has turned a lot of business models 

upside down. Hot on its heels, there’s 

the new age, in which conspicuous nonconsumption 

has become cool. And so 

consumers don’t buy. If they do, they get 

it on-line. 

Let’s take a deep breath. 

We’ve seen this movie before. True, 

last time the movie was 16 mm black and 

white, this time it’s 3-D IMAX. The 

principles haven’t changed, though. And 

that gives me a pretext for repeating what 

I’ve written in the past. 

With updates, of course. 

The first section is from The Plot to 

Kill Hi-Fi, drawn most recently from 

UHF No. 72. The second is adapted from 

my book, The World of High Fidelity. It 

was written some 15 years ago, but you’d 

be surprised how little I had to change. 

Feature The economy is a wreck. Actu- 

Lessons from the past 

The year is 1960. I’m a student, with 

a need for money for books, fees and a 

place to sleep. And I have a job that is 

perfectly in line with both my interests 

and my eventual livelihood. 

I sell hi-fi equipment. 

If you could travel back in time and 

walk into my store, you’d find much of 

it strangely familiar. Clearly it is what 

would later be called a mid-fi store, 

with a listening room that is little more 

than an alcove, lined with cables and 

loudspeakers, all connected to a large 

comparator box. There is nowhere to 


sit, a clear indication that the customer 

is expected to get a quick listen and then 

move along to the cash register. The 

sources are all turntables, since stereo 

FM is only a dream, and to a modern 

eye those tables mostly 

don’t c ut it. The 

prime model is a 

Garrard, which 

incorporates a number of 

obvious design blunders, 

including an inaccurate two-pole motor, 

a ribbed record mat, and a tone arm 

with a plastic headshell. Even so, 

it looks pretty good alongside the 

original Dual, whose entire tone 

arm is made of resonant plastic, and 

whose cartridge cannot be adjusted for 

tracking angle. The rest of the store 

doesn’t feature VCR’s and microwave 

ovens, items which are still spotlighted 

at world’s fairs, but cameras. Despite 

appearances, however, this is a hi-fi store, 

the best one you’ll find within several 

thousand kilometres…er, miles. 

As the bloodied bruiser said as he 

staggered back into the bar after a brawl 

in the alley, “You should see the other 

guy.” 

You see, no one talks about “hi-fi” 

and “mid-fi.” Rather, the distinction 

is between consoles and component 

stereo. Most people shop for consoles, 

everywhere from department stores to 

hardware stores. The typical console 

contains a record changer, a radio, two 

or four cheap speakers in a simple baffle 

with a Masonite back, and an amplifier 

rated optimistically at perhaps 100 watts 

per channel. Alongside that, the plastic 

tone arms I sell look pretty good. 

And if you look carefully on my 

shelves, you’ll see signs of what even 

you would call real hi-fi. My amplifiers 

include the Dynaco Mk III, a large 

monoblock tube amp that will still be 

valued decades later. They’re hooked 

up to a pair of AR-1’s, the original 

sealed “acoustic suspension” speakers. 

In a drawer are plans that, for $5, will 

let you build your own Klipschorns 

or Karlson enclosures. And although 

the Linn Sondek is still a dozen years 

away, I can do a demonstration with 

a Stromberg Carlson turntable which 

sounds amazingly good. It is my only 

belt-driven turntable, and it uses a pair 

of synchronous motors to drive it. The 

arm is relatively light, and it is all metal. 

The mat is smooth, as it should be. The 

spring suspension has a compliance that 

is unique for the time. Using that gear, I 

Good Sound in Bad Times 


can give you a pretty good 

demo. 

Or at least I could, 

were it not that the room is 

acoustically terrible. There is 

no door, so the music mixes with 

the sound of clicking shutters. There’s 

too much gear present. And everything 

goes through the comparator box, 

including — believe it or not — the 

fragile signal from the turntable. So I 

have the potential to make the music 

come to life, but the store is wrong for it. 

I can let you hear more than a hundred 

different component combinations, 

but all of them will sound noisy and 

distorted. 

Though it’s not yet obvious, that 

is to be a major reason for the hi-fi 

revolution. 

Comes the revolution 

The other factor for change is 

inflation. Though 1960’s inflation is low 

compared to what is still to come, prices 

are nonetheless rising, and that works 

against hi-fi. People who once wanted a 

“good little system” for $400 still want to 

spend only $400, even though the same 

system now costs $550 and continues to 

rise. In my store in 1960, you may notice, 

in passing, a strangely-styled little 

amplifier with instructions in unreadable 

English. 

The name on the panel is not yet a 

household word: Pioneer. 

So the Japanese are already here. 

They are proving their engineering 

skills with transistor radios, before 

hitting us with their marketing skills 

as well. Through the magic of solid 

state engineering and mass production, 

consumers really can get more and more 

for less and less money. As inflation revs

its motor, the major Japanese companies 

begin stealing market share from the 

traditional (i.e. American) companies. 

They even begin swallowing American 

companies. 

In some ways, the new breed of 

equipment really is better. The sloppy 

assembly work that plagues many garage 

enterprises is replaced by competent 

production techniques. Buttons feel 

nicer, and there are certainly more 

of them. Quality hasn’t improved, of 

course, and it has even become worse, but 

what does that matter? Most consumers 

are buying with their eyes rather than 

their ears, and everyone believes in 

published technical specifications, which 

get regurgitated by the “hi-fi” magazines 

of the time. 

But hi-fi is not quite dead. 

Here and there, worldwide, a 

Buying On-Line 

E-commerce used to be marginal, and it was once predicted that even Amazon 

would eventually go bust. The dot-com meltdown of 2001 seemed to prove the 

skeptics right, but look what’s happened since then! And the hi-fi field is far from 

immune to the tide. 

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onullan henisl ute core vent volor si. 

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am quis niamet nisse eniamet, sis nibh eraesen dionum zzrilla feuipis modolut adip 

euis dolessi. 

Get the complete version 

few companies keep the faith and Tum veliquat ulpute dolore volore facipsum esequat. Ut lan veliquat praese 

don’t follow the hot new trend. They facilit lutpat nibh euguero ea feuguer suscing enismod dolorero odiamco rtiscil 

make design decisions the old way: by lamconsequat wismod modion vel ulputat. Utpation utpat augait am, core tisi. 

No, this free version is not complete, though you could spend a couple 

actually listening to what they build. Of An hendreet nonsenim dit, ver sustrud dunt utet autem quam, sis augue magniam 

of hours reading it. Want the full version? 

course, building equipment to the old consequat adipis adiam, consed te ming esent loborper. 

You can, of course, order the print version, which we have published 

standard costs a good deal of money, 

for a quarter of a century. You can get it from our back issues page. 

and consumers often wonder why. Why ulputat. Utpation utpat augait am, core ortinim digna autpat lobor sectetum 

But we also have a paid electronic version, which is just like this one, 

pay so much for an amplifier whose paint tisi. 

quamconulla commy niation sequatie el 

except that it doesn’t have annoying banners like this one, and it doesn’t 

sags, with screwdriver scratches on the An hendreet nonsenim dit, ver sus- ip ea augait, consequam adionsectet alis 

have articles tailing off into faux Latin. Getting the electronic version is of 

top panel, whose switches feel as though trud dunt utet autem quam, sis augue ex exer sum zzriure eugiam iriurerit ad 

course faster, and it is also cheaper. It costs just $4.30 (Canadian) anywhere 

they’ll break when you touch them? But magniam consequat adipis adiam, consed eros dit alit num del ullutpat, sisisl et et 

in the world. Taxes, if they are applicable, are included. 

a few people know about the one thing te ming esent loborper iure commodio volorper si blam, quatem init, consequi 


this stuff can do that the flashy new commodit lum zzriure vullumsan henim bla coreet, vent iriusci bla feu feuipis 

generation of equipment can’t do. iustin utatum vel ilis aut loborperilla modolore dolesse conulla feuis adit laor 

It can play music so t hat it’s feum do odolore commodolore dolore ilit lutpatin el in velisci ncilla facinibh 

enjoyable. 

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Now and then I hear some of this orem ex ero odolobore dolobortie digna feummod do coreros eugait il ex eugait 

stuff, and I wish I were selling it. A few conullaor si bla consecte et exerit lum wisi ex et num quisim aut atum del del 

“hi-fi” salesmen do more than wish. alismolore ming esent vullamc onullan dolobore eros endigniatue dolor secte ex 

They quit their jobs and rent inexpensive henisl ute core vent volor si. 

eugiat. Illa corperostrud tisi. 

storefront properties. 

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And so is born the revolution, and accum nissequam ero eraestrud dolore cidunt aut ing et lorper sequis non ut ilit 

the true high fidelity store. 

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A different way of doing things ciliquiscil dignis am quis niamet nisse tat. 

The new store owners are driven by eniamet, sis nibh eraesen dionum zzrilla Agna feuipisl essequis accum in utat. 

one thing: love of good sound. They are feuipis modolut adip euis dolessi. Andigna feuguer sustrud dolore conum 

evangelists for true high fidelity, and Iquametuerat nullamc ommolore con ex et enisit prat vulputat iure dunt verit 

their new stores are their temples. utatuer ostinit nos eugiam nos adionsed lutpat nullam velesto commolortie 

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rtiscil lamconsequat wismod modion vel utat, quat ad eril doloreet lan euismol exerat acidunt dolesto ex er incilis essim 


Nuts&Bolts 

Acoustics 

Feedback

Feedback Feature 

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luptat. 




















The Truth About the Grey Market 

The name says it: it’s not quite the black market, but it’s getting there. 

A “grey market” product is one that has not come from the factory-approved 

distribution: national distributor to accredited dealer. There may be substantial 

savings in buying grey market, or there may be misery and heartbreak. 










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euis dolessi. 










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Feedback 

Features

Feedback 

Features 






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What About Audio Magazines? 

Is the ground shifting under our feet too? Of course. We offer audio and home 

theatre information, and a simple Google search will get you more of that than 

you can digest. 

But you probably know that the saying “you get what you pay for” applies here 

too. There have always been publications peddling misinformation, and indeed they 

were once dominant. Today? You can disseminate opinions without even having 

to pay for a printing press. Do the math. 

The print media are taking a beating, as you know, but the hurt is not evenly 

spread. General interest media, such as newspapers and newsmagazines are bleeding, 

and may not be able to stay in business. Specialized publications, on the other 

hand, are seeing their readerships growing. That’s the case of UHF, incidentally. 

Some magazines have left the printing press in favor of Net publishing. We 

ourselves have two electronic editions (one paid and complete, one free and about 

half complete), but we don’t think that’s the future. Just as television wasn’t “radio 

with pictures,” and the car was more than a “horseless carriage,” so a magazine on 

the Web has to be more than a PDF copy of a printed magazine. That’s a transitional 

technology, but you can’t stop the transition. 

We plan to go on printing UHF, but we’ll be developing material that doesn’t 

look like a magazine, and our business plan will evolve with it. 






































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sum zzriustrud tat, suscips ustrud tie vel 

dolore modo conse modolortio et nos nit 

utem zzrit irit pratueros dolorem diat, 

quipit nonsequate magna facip exer summodion 

vullaore duis euismod ignibh 

esting et. 


Feedback 

Features

We’ve been aware for 

a while that many of 

our hard core readers 

are transferring their 

digital music onto hard disc. That 

makes it available for placement 

on an iPod or other player, 

of course, but having instant 

access to all your music is frankly 

addictive. See Music Through the Air 

in this issue. 

Of course the music most people are 

transferring is on Compact Disc, but 

perhaps you’ve also built up a collection 

of SACDs. What about those? Can they 

be added to your playlist? 

The answer is yes, but with how 

much of a compromise? We set out to 

find out. 

The bad news is that there is no direct 

way to transcode the contents of an 

SACD to the pulse code modulation used 

for other digital music processes, including 

the CD. That’s because SACDs are 

recorded not with PCM but with Direct 

Stream Digital (DSD), which works 

totally differently. We’ll leave aside for 

now the claims for or against DSD, but 

let us see how it works, and how it is 

different from the more familiar pulse 

code modulation used in such systems 

as the Red Book CD. 

Let’s look first at PCM. 

Here the signal level is sampled at a 

regular, pre-determined interval, 44,100 


Nuts&Bolts 

SACD on Hard Disc? 

t i m e s 

per second 

in the case of 

the CD, more often 

with modern professional 

systems. The values 

gleaned are encoded as binary 

digits, from which a jagged version of the 

original waveform can be reconstructed. 

It is then smoothed with a low-pass filter. 

This works well providing (as per the 

Nyquist theorem) the sampling rate is at 

least double the highest signal frequency 

to be encoded. 

The DSD system, by contrast, is 

asynchronous, which means it doesn’t 

pay attention to the clock. The system 

monitors the waveform as it arrives. If 

the level of a sample is higher than the 

previous one, it generates the binary 

digit “one.” Otherwise it generates a 

zero. Silence is represented by alternating 

ones and zeros. 

Sony, which developed the DSD 

recording system that is at the heart of 

SACD, likes to say that this is the system 

closest to analog, and that, indeed, if 

you simply take the DSD code and run 

it through a low-pass filter, you will 

actually hear the analog signal, 

albeit with a lot of noise. 

What is certain is that 

moving from DSD to 

PCM in the digital 

domain is not simple, 

and for the audiophile there 

is but one way to accomplish 

it, and that is by making a detour 

through the world of analog. 

It’s not ideal, we know. Going from 

analog to digital or vice versa is like (we 

imagine) getting beamed up by Scotty. 

You arrive nearly intact, but you don’t 

want to do it too often. We’ve seen Star 

Trek, but we’ve seen The Fly as well. 

But how bad is the process? Here’s 

how we set out to evaluate the method. 

To get the music out of the proprietary 

DSD format, we played our test 

discs on our Linn Unidisk player, whose 

performance appears to be at or near 

the state of the art. We bypassed our 

preamplifier and went from the Linn’s 

analog outputs directly into our Edirol 

UA-25 audio interface box, which you 

can see overleaf. The Edirol, in turn, 

was connected to a MacBook Pro laptop 

computer with a USB cable. We did the 

recording work using the free opensource 

program Audacity, set to record in 

24-bit resolution with a 96 kHz sampling 

rate. 

If you have a newer DAC that can 

handle 24/96, you can stop right there, 

because you now have your music right 

where you want it. For the purpose of 

this test, however, we did something you 

may not: we burned our newly-created 

PCM files to a blank DVD. Since 24/96 

reproduction is part of the basic DVD 

standard, that disc will play fine on any 

DVD player. We listened to it with the

THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION: 

Issues No.7-19 (except 11, 15, 17 and 18, out of 

print): nine issues available for the price of five 

(see below). A piece of audio history. Available 

separately at the regular price. 

No.86: Digital: We review the Scheu Analogue 

Premier II turntable and Cantus arm, and we try 

two phono preamps: the Allnic H-1200 and the 

Moon LP3. Also: We continue our investigation 

of speaker connectors by putting WBT nextgens 

on our reference cable, we listen to Beats headphones, 

as well as the Shure SE530 and SE420 

phones. We also put the Zoom H2 palm-sized 

digital recorder through a tough test. Plus: color 

space in home theatre, Paul Bergman on analog 

in a digital world. 

No.85: Integrated amplifiers: the luxurious 

Sugden A21SE and the affordable Vecteur 

Ai4. We evaluate Eichmann’s new Quiessence 

cables, and chat with Keith Eichmann himself. 

We listen to a very good mid-priced speaker 

cable with four different connectors, and the 

results leave us stunned. Plus: We choose 

(and evaluate in depth) a new HDTV reference 

monitor, Paul Bergman winds up his series on 

acoustics, and we tell you how to transfer music 

to hard drive without saying you’re sorry. 

No.84: Digital streaming: the awesome Linn 

Klimax DS and the Off-Ramp Turbo 2 interface. 

Also: the classic Harbeth HL5 speaker, the 

affordable Moon CD-1 and i-1 amplifier, and 

a great phono stage from Aurum. Plus: UHF 

chats with Linn’s Gilad Tiefenbrun and Harbeth’s 

Alan Shaw, Paul Bergman discusses signals for 

acoustic measurement, and we look at the prospects 

for 3-D…at home and in the cinema. 

No.83: Digital: The Raysonic CD128 and a lowcost 

player from VisionQuest. Other reviews: The 

Moon LP5.3 phono stage, the Castle Richmond 

7i speaker, the upscale Mavros cables from 

Atlas, and a retest of the Power Foundation III 

line filter, with a better power cord this time. Plus: 

The acoustics of speaker placement, the two 

meanings of video image contrast, and a portrait 

of super tenor Placido Domingo. 

No.82: Amplifiers: A large sweet tube amplifier 

from Audio Space, the Reference 3.1, and the 

reincarnation of an old favorite, the Sugden A21. 

Digital: Bryston's first CD player, and the Blue 

Circle "Thingee," with USB at one end and lots of 

outputs at the other end. Plus: the BC Acoustique 

A3 speaker, a small subwoofer, two more London 

phono cartridges, line filters from AudioPrism 

and BIS, a blind test of three interconnects, Paul 

Bergman on soundproofing, and a thorough test 

of Sony's new-generation Blu-ray player 

No.81: Digital: The newest two-box CD player 

from Reimyo, and the magical Linn Majik 

player. Headphones a new version of our long 

time reference headphones, from the Koss pro 

division, and the affordable SR-125 headphones 

from Grado. Plus: The astonishing Sonogram 

loudspeakers from Gershman, a small but lovely 

tube integrated amplifier from CEC, and the 

London Reference phono cartridge. 

No.80: Equipment reviews: From Linn, the 

Artikulat 350A active speakers, the updated 

LP12 turntable, the Klimax Kontrol preamplifier, 

and the Linto phono stage; ASW Genius 300 

speakers, ModWright preamp and phono stage. 

Also: Bergman on absorbing low frequencies, 

emerging technologies for home theatre, and 

coverage of the Montreal Festival. 

No.79: Digital players: Simaudio’s flagship 

DVD (and CD) player, the Calypso, and Creek’s 

surprising economy EVO player. Phono stages: 

A slick tube unit from Marchand, and the superb 

Sonneteer Sedley, with USB input and output. 

Plus: the talented JAS Oscar loudspeakers, the 

Squeezebox plus our own monster power supply. 

Also: Bergman on what absorbs sound and what 

doesn’t, what’s next in home theatre, Vegas 

2007, and the secrets of the harmonica. 

No.78: Integrated amplifiers: the affordable 

Creek EVO, and the (also affordable) Audio 

Space AS-3i. Loudspeaker cables: six of them 

from Atlas and Actinote, in a blind test. Plus: 

the astonishing Aurum Acoustics Integris 300B 

complete system, and its optional CD player/ 

preamplifier. Whew! Also: Bergman on taming 

reverberation, how to put seven hours of uncompressed 

music on just one disc, and the one 

opera that even non-opera people know. 

No.77: Electronics: The Simaudio Moon P-8 

preamplifier, the successor to the legendary 

Bryston 2B power amp, the Antique Sound Lab 

Lux DT phono stage. Plus: the Reimyo DAP-777 

converter, an affordable CD player/integrated 

amp pair from CEC, and five power cords. Also: 

Paul Bergman on room size and acoustics, how 

to dezone foreign DVDs, and how to make your 

own 24/96 high resolution discs at home. 

No.76: Loudspeakers: a new look at the modern 

version of the Totem Mani-2, an affordable ELAC 

speaker with a Heil tweeter, and the even more 

affordable Castle Richmond 3i. Plus headphone 

amps from Lehmann, CEC and Benchmark, a 

charger that can do all your portables, and the 

Squeezebox 3, which gets true hi-fi music from 

your computer to your stereo system. Bergman 

on speaker impedance and how to measure it. 

No.75: Amplifiers: The new Simaudio Moon W-8 

flagship, and integrated amps from Copland (the 

CTA-405) and CEC. Speakers: the Reference 3a 

Veena and the Energy Reference Connoisseur 

reborn. Plus the Benchmark DAC converter. And 

also: Bergman on the changing concept of hi-fi 

and stereo, a chat with FIM’s Winston Ma, and 

the rediscovery of a great Baroque composer, 

Christoph Graupner. 

No.74: Amplifiers: Mimetism 15.2, Qinpu A-8000, 

Raysonic SP-100, Cyrus 8vs and Rogue Stereo 

90. More reviews: Atlantis Argentera speaker, 

Cyrus CD8X player, GutWire MaxCon 2 line 

filter, Harmony remote, Music Studio 10 recording 

software. Cables: Atlas, Stager, BIS and 

DNM, including a look at how length affects 

digital cables. Plus: the (hi-fi) digital jukebox, 

why HDTV doesn’t always mean what you think, 

and Reine Lessard on The Man Who Invented 

Rock’n’Roll. 

No.73: Integrated amplifiers: Audiomat Récital 

and Exposure 2010S. Analog: Turntables 

from Roksan (Radius 5) and Goldring (the 

Rega-designed GR2), plus two cartridges, and 

four phono stages from CEC, Marchand and 

Goldring. The Harmonix Reimyo CD player, 

Audiomat Maestro DAC, ASW Genius 400 

speakers, and the Sonneteer BardOne wireless 

system. Plus: Paul Bergman on the making of an 

LP and why they don’t all sound the same. 

No.72: Music from data: We look at ways you 

can make your own audiophile CDs with equipment 

you already have, and we test a DAC that 

yields hi-fi from your computer. We review the 

new Audio Reference speakers, the updated 

Connoisseur single-ended tube amp, upscale 

Actinote cables, and Gershman’s Acoustic Art 

panels. How to tune up your system for an inexpensive 

performance boost. And much more. 

No.71: Small speaker: Reference 3a Dulcet, 

Totem Rainmaker, and a low cost speaker from 

France. A blind cable test: five cables from Atlas, 

and a Wireworld cable with different connectors 

Back Issues 

(Eichmann, WBT nextgen, and Wireworld). The 

McCormack UDP-1 universal player, muRata 

super tweeters, Simaudio I-3 amp and Equinox 

CD player. Paul Bergman examines differences 

behind two-channel stereo and multichannel. 

No.70: How SACD won the war…or how DVD-A 

blew it. Reviews: Linn Unidisk 1.1 universal 

player and Shanling SCD-T200 player. Speakers: 

Reference 3a Royal Virtuoso, Equation 25, 

Wilson Benesch Curve. Other reviews: Simaudio 

W-5LE amp, the iPod as an audiophile source. 

Plus: future video screens, and the eternal music 

of George Gershwin 

No.69: Tube Electronics: Audiomat Opéra , 

Connoisseur SE-2 and Copland CSA29 integrated 

amps, and Shanling SP-80 monoblocks. 

Audiomat's Phono 1.5, Creek CD50, GutWire's 

NotePad and a music-related computer game 

that made us laugh out loud. Paul Bergman on 

the return of the tube, and how music critics did 

their best to kill the world’s greatest music. 

No.68: Loudspeakers: Thiel CS2.4, Focus 

Audio FS688, Iliad B1. Electronics:Vecteur 

I-6.2 and Audiomat Arpège integrated amplifiers, 

Copland 306 multichannel tube preamp, 

Rega Fono MC. Also: Audio Note and Copland 

CD players, GutWire MaxCon power filter. And 

there’s more: all about power supplies, what’s 

coming beyond DVD, and a chat with YBA’s 

Yves-Bernard André. 

No.67: Loudspeakers: An improved Reference 

3a MM de Capo, and the Living Voice Avatar 

OBX-R. Centre speakers from Castle, JMLab, 

ProAc, Thiel, Totem and Vandersteen. One of 

them joins our Kappa system. Two multichannel 

amps from Copland and Vecteur. Plus: plans for 

a DIY platform for placing a centre speaker atop 

any TV set, Paul Bergman on the elements of 

acoustics, and women in country music. 

No.66: Reviews: the Jadis DA-30 amplifier, the 

Copland 305 tube preamp and 520 solid state 

amp. Plus: the amazing Shanling CD player, 

Castle Stirling speakers, and a remote control 

that tells you what to watch. Also: Bergman on 

biwiring and biamplification, singer Janis Ian’s 

alternative take on music downloading, and a 

chat with Opus 3’s Jan-Eric Persson. 

No.65: Back to Vinyl: setting up an analog 

system, reviews of Rega P9 turntable, and 

phono preamps from Rega, Musical Fidelity 

and Lehmann. The Kappa reference system for 

home theatre: choosing our HDTV monitor, plus 

a review of the Moon Stellar DVD player. Antivibration: 

Atacama, Symposium, Golden Sound, 

Solid-Tech, Audioprism, Tenderfeet. Plus an 

interview with Rega’s turntable designer,. 

No.64: Speakers: Totem M1 Signature and 

Hawk, Visonik E352. YBA Passion Intégré amp, 

Cambridge IsoMagic (followup), better batteries 

for audio-to-go. Plus: the truth about upsampling, 

an improvement to our LP cleaning machine, an 

interview with Ray Kimber. 

No.63: Tube amps: ASL Leyla & Passion 

A11. Vecteur Espace speakers, 2 interconnects 

(Harmonic Technology Eichmann), 

5 speaker cables (Pierre Gabriel, vdH , 

Harmonic Technology, Eichmann), 4 power 

cords (Wireworld, Harmonic Technology, 

Eichmann, ESP). Plus: Paul Bergman on 

s oundproof ing, c ompar ing c omponent s 

in the store, big-screen TV’s to stay away 

from, a look back at the Beatles revolution. 

No.62: Amplifiers: Vecteur I-4, Musical Fidelity 

Nu-Vista M3, Antique Sound Lab MG-S11DT. 

Passive preamps: Creek and Antique Sound 

Lab. Vecteur L-4 CD player. Interconnects: VdH 

Integration, Wireworld Soltice. Plus: the right to 

copy music, for now. Choosing a DVD player by 

features. And all about music for the movies. 

No.61: Digital: Audiomat Tempo and Cambridge 

Isomagic DACs, Vecteur D-2 transport. Speakers: 

Osborn Mini Tower and Mirage OM-9. Soundcare 

Superspikes. And: new surround formats, dezoning 

DVD players. 

No.60: Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver 9, 

Reference 3a MM De Capo, Klipsch RB-5, 

Coincident Triumph Signature. Plus: a Mirage 

subwoofer and the Audiomat Solfège amp. Paul 

Bergman on reproducing extreme lows. 

No.59: CD players: Moon Eclipse, Linn Ikemi and 

Genki, Rega Jupiter/Io, Cambridge D500. Plus: 

Oskar Kithara speaker, with Heil tweeter. And: 

transferring LP to CD, the truth on digital radio, 

digital cinema vs MaxiVision 48. 

No.58: Amplifiers: ASL AQ1003, Passion I10 

& I11, Rogue 88, Jadis Orchestra Reference, 

Linar 250. Headphone amps: Creek, Antique 

Sound Lab, NVA, Audio Valve. Plus: Foundation 

Research LC-2 line filter, Gutwire power cord, 

Pierre Gabriel ML-1 2000 cable. And: building 

your own machine to clean LP’s. 

No.57: Speakers: Dynaudio Contour 1.3, 

Gershman X-1/SW-1, Coincident Super Triumph 

Signature, Castle Inversion 15, Oskar Aulos. 

PLUS: KR 18 tube amp. Music Revolution: the 

next 5 years. Give your Hi-Fi a Fall Tune-Up. 

No.56: Integrated amps: Simaudio I-5, Roksan 

Caspian, Myryad MI120, Vecteur Club 10, NVA 

AP10 Also: Cambridge T500 tuner, Totem Forest. 

Phono stages: Creek, Lehmann, Audiomat. 

Interconnects: Actinote, Van den Hul, Pierre 

Gabriel. Plus: Paul Bergman on power and current…why 

you need both 

No.55: CD players: Linn CD12, Copland 

CDA-289, Roksan Caspian, AMC CD8a. Other 

reviews: Enigma Oremus speaker, Magenta 

ADE-24 black box. Plus: the DSD challenge for 

the next audio disc, pirate music on the Net, the 

explosion of off-air video choices. 

No.54: Electronics: Creek A52se, Simaudio W-3 

and W-5 amps. Copland CSA-303, Sima P-400 

and F.T. Audio preamps (two of them passive). 

Musical Fidelity X-DAC revisited, Ergo AMT 

phones, 4 line filters, 2 interconnects.. 

No.53: Loudspeakers:Reference 3a Intégrale, 

Energy Veritas v2.8, Epos ES30, Totem Shaman, 

Mirage 390is, Castle Eden. Bergman on biamping, 

biwiring, balanced lines, and more. 

No.52: CD players: Alchemist Nexus, Cambridge 

CD6, YBA Intégré, Musical Fidelity X-DAC, 

Assemblage DAC-2. Subwoofers: Energy ES-8 

and NHT PS-8. Plus: Paul Bergman on reproducing 

deep bass, and behind digital television. 

No.51: Integrated amps: YBA Intégré DT, 

Alchemist Forseti, Primare A-20, NVA AP50 

Cambridge A1. CD players: Adcom GCD-750, 

Rega Planet. An economy system to recommend 

to friends, ATI 1505 5-channel amp, Bergman on 

impedance, why connectors matter, making your 

own power bars. 

No.50: CD: Cambridge DiscMagic/DACMagic, 

Primare D-20, Dynaco CDV Pro. Analog: Rega 

Planar 9, Linn LP12 after 25 years. Also: Moon 

preamp, Linn Linto phono stage, Ergo and Grado 

headphones. Speaker cables: Linn K- 400, 

Sheffield, MIT 750 Also: 15 years of UHF. 

SEE MORE AT: 

http://www.uhfmag.com/IndividualIssue.html 

EACH ISSUE costs $6.49 (in Canada) plus tax (13% in Québec, NB, NS and NF, 5% in other Provinces), US$7.69 in the USA, CAN$10.75 elsewhere (air mail included). 

THE ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION (issues 7-19 except 11, 15, 17 and 18) includes 9 issues but costs like 5. For VISA or MasterCard, include your number, expiry 

date and signature. UHF Magazine, Box 65085, Place Longueuil, Longueuil, Qué., Canada J4K 5J4. Tel.: (450) 651-5720 FAX: (450) 651-3383. Order on line at www. 

uhfmag.com. Recent back issues are available electronically at www.magzee.com, for C$4.30 each, all taxes included. 

Listening Room

Nuts&Bolts 

Nuts&Bolts 

Feedback 

same Linn Unidisk we had used to play 

the original, thus coming full circle. 

Best of all, we avoided all the unwanted 

variables, so that we could truly evaluate 

what the trip through analog does to the 

music. 

For this comparison we chose three 

highly familiar SACD selections, ones we 

have used in equipment tests before. 

The rest of this article can be found in 

the complete print or electronic version 

of UHF No. 84. Order the print issue 

from www.uhfmag.com/IndividualIssue.html 

(it’s case sensitive). Or subscribe 

at www.uhfmag.com/Subscription.html. 

The electronic issue is available from 

www.magzee.com. 

We now continue in imitation 

Latin. 









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dolore dolutat, volobore diat praestismod 

te facilla facil inci blan et aliquis ciliquis- 


cil dignis 

am quis niamet nisse eniamet, 

sis nibh eraesen dionum zzrilla 





























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luptat. 
























euis am euipsum.

Coming up in issue No. 88 of 

BIG LOUDSPEAKERS 

from Audes and Reference 3a 

DIGITAL 

A CD transport and DAC from Cyrus 

ANALOG 

Phono preamplifiers from Blue Circle 

MOVIES 

The Bond franchise over nearly five decades 

AND MUCH, MUCH MORE! 

Get UHF on your desktop or in your hand! 

www.uhfmag.com

We had pret t y much 

reached the end of the 

road with our original 

Blu-ray player, the Sony 

BDP-S300. Not only were there better 

players available, but the Sony would 

actually not play the latest discs. On 

Quantum of Solace, for instance, it would 

go into an endless loop, trying to load 

Java code it couldn’t understand. Java is a 

mandatory part of the Blu-ray standard, 

but in the interests of getting to market 

faster, there was a “period of grace,” 

during which manufacturers could 

ignore the standard. Strange they didn’t 

mention that to consumers! 

Sony has a downloadable updater 

on line, but we couldn’t get it to work 

(it requires a Windows computer, and 

you need software that can burn a disc 

image; we have both, but our burned 

DVD didn’t work). Sony also offers an 

upgrade DVD by mail, but only in the 

USA. Finally a reader supplied us with 

a DVD, but we put off the upgrade until 

this comparison session was over. The 

reason: the four pages of instructions 

include paragraphs that are in upper 

case, warning that if we didn’t do everything 

exactly as stated, or if there were to 

be a power interruption, we would wind 

up with a brick. And that would kill this 

comparison. 

We still consider Blu-ray to be a work 


Cinema 

Pioneer BDP-51FD Player 

in progress, but this Pioneer player looks 

like a good bet because it has what is (or 

was when we bought it) the latest chipset, 

the same one found in the Elite player, 

the BDP-09FD. We ran it in, and lined 

up a few films we thought might show 

up significant differences in pictures and 

sound. 

The Pioneer is much larger than the 

Sony, though it isn’t much heavier. One 

nice touch: it has an actual IEC power 

connector at the rear, and can therefore 

be used with an upscale power cord (on 

the Sony, with its skinny two-conductor 

cord, we had used a GutWire adapter to 

fit a proper cord). The Pioneer is also 

much faster to obey commands, which 

is a refreshing change from the glacially 

slow pace of the first Blu-ray players. 

The feet on the Pioneer are the usual 

generic plastic feet found on countless 

products from numerous countries 

(there seems to be, somewhere, a factory 

turning out these things like cookies). 

Since our Blu-ray player is on a tempered 

glass shelf (not our first choice, but you 

don’t get much choice these days) we 

used a set of Audioprism Isobearings 

underneath it. 

The Pioneer can play all the formats 

you would expect it to, including Bonus- 

View, which provides extra interactive 

material written in the Java language. 

However it lacks any kind of Internet 

connectivity, either Ethernet or WiFi, 

which excludes downloading any of the 

BD-Live material (like we care). That 

means future firmware upgrades, as with 

the Sony, will require downloading and 

burning the upgrade to your own blank 

DVD. 

For the comparison, we selected 

four scenes from current Blu-ray films, 

and threw in one conventional DVD to 

see how the two players would do. The 

players were connected to our Samsung 

plasma panel via an Atlas HDMI cable, 

and to our Moon Attraction preampprocessor 

via an Atlas Opus digital 

cable. 

The first sequence is the famous 

“parkour” (chase) scene from the James 

Bond film Casino Royale, in which Bond 

pursues parkour champion Sébastien 

Foucan through a building in construction, 

and on cranes high above Coral 

Harbour in the Bahamas. The scene 

has a huge range of colors, and of course 

plenty of fast movement. 

Though there were differences in the 

image between the two players (Gerard 

noted the better clarity in the very brief 

glimpse of the snake and the mongoose), 

it was the difference in sound that was 

most noticeable, and that came as a surprise. 

“The sound is a lot more open, and 

better balanced,” said Albert. “There’s 

an unnatural emphasis on the bass, as in

many action films, but with the Pioneer 

the low-end sounds don’t hide the rest.” 

Steve agreed, noting the better rendition 

of small transient sounds. 

We knew we would be focusing 

on sound in the next film, Master and 

Commander, which won a well-deserved 

Oscar for sound editing, and which uses 

the surround sound field better than any 

film we know of since Saving Private 

Ryan. We selected chapter 3, in which 

the ghostly shape of the French privateer 

is glimpsed through the fog, leading to a 

truly frightening cannon battle. 

It got a lot more frightening with the 

Pioneer, with the cannonball travelling 

through us. “I’m amazed at how accurately 

they get the sound of splintering 

wood,” said Steve. Unlike in the Bond 

film there is no undue emphasis on the 

lower frequencies, but of course if your 

ship is hit by cannon fire there are going 

to be major impact sounds. 

And it wasn’t just the cannons. “The 

sound is fantastically realistic,” said 

Albert, ‘with surround effects in every 

direction, including up and down.” 

Indeed, in the moments when we are 

below deck immediately after the attack, 

we can hear sailors running above our 

heads, and the effect was so real it was 

disconcerting. “Even the voices are 

better,” added Albert, “more real and 

less electronic.” 

Was the image better? Albert was so 

taken with the sound he wasn’t certain, 

especially since there is fog throughout 

that first part of the film. Gerard noted 

that the rolling fog in the opening of the 

chapter had a shape, instead of being just 

a veil, and at the end of the chapter he 

could make out the name of the privateer, 

the Acheron, impossible to do with 

the Sony player. Steve noted that when 

some of the characters were backlit you 

could still see their hair color, and they 

were not mere silhouettes. 

We proceeded with the IMAX film 

Blue Planet. Because of the very sharp 

IMAX film stock (70 mm film, run 

horizontally to double the image area), 

the resolution would put the Blu-ray 

system to the test. We began about a 

minute before the opening of Chapter 2, 

showing the space shuttle’s open cargo 

bay, the Canadarm, and the earth below. 

Following that is a spectacular thunder- 

storm on Earth, then a space view of 

desert regions. 

This time we were unanimous: both 

the image and the sound were superior 

with the Pioneer player. Steve admired 

the Earth view, finding the white and 

silver hues of the clouds more luminous 

than bright. “There’s a great finesse of 

detail in both sound and picture,” said 

Albert. It looks the way real life does 

after the rain has cleared the air.” 

Summing it up… 

Brand/model: Pioneer BDP-51FD 

Price: C$499 

Size (WDH: 42 x 36 x 12.4 cm 

Most liked: Outstanding sound, very 

good picture 

Least liked: No Ethernet or WiFi 

Verdict: Perhaps not the last word, 

but a good step forward 

Gerard, for his part, admired the 

way the subtle music weaves through the 

piece, and noticed for the first time that 

it doesn’t actually stop during the thunderstorm 

(which was more overwhelming 

than ever). We could hear the rain 

fall behind and in the room. Steve was 

following the solo flute. “It was beautifully 

complex,” he said approvingly. 

On to an operatic aria. The Metropolitan 

Opera has obtained great success 

by broadcasting its productions in high 

definition to movie theatres, where you 

can therefore see live opera for perhaps 

$22, instead of a gazillion dollars at the 

Lincoln Center. Albert had recently seen 

the broadcast of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene 

Onegin with Renée Fleming. And here 

we had the same performance on a 

freshly-minted Decca Blu-ray disc. We 

chose the letter scene, “the best one,” 

said Albert. 

It looked and sounded fine even on 


Listening Feedback Room

Listening Feedback Room 

Three HDMI Cables 

Connecting to an HDTV via HDMI, which is an all-digital pipeline, gives such 

sound seemed to wrap itself about us. 

Gerard noted some spatial cues from the 

rear, totally absent with the Sony. “This 

is good enough to stand on its own as a 

pure music recording,” said Steve. 

superior results that other connecting methods, such as component video, should We didn’t want to end the session 

not even be considered, But are all HDMI cables alike? 

without playing a conventional DVD. 

We knew the answer to that, because we had had occasion to compare our Atlas We picked the director’s cut of Amadeus. 

HDMI cable to one of those cables that come free with various gear. Big difference. It has now been released in Blu-ray, by 

But we had a couple of other cables in hand, one with a brand name, the other the way, though we’ll get to that another 

not. 

time. We began with chapter 39, with an 

This was a blind test for Albert and Steve, who were not told what this com- ailing Mozart conducting the Queen of 

parison was all about. We viewed once again the IMAX scene from Blue Planet, the Night scene from The Magic Flute. 

using our Atlas HDMI cable (C$110 for 1.5 m). We then viewed it again with two After the intense sessions with 

other cables. 

Blu-ray discs, dropping down to DVD 

The first test cable actually was a bit of a shock. “You hear people 

has no name. It’s made in China, claim there isn’t a lot of difference,” said 

as are even many cables with Gerard. “They should watch Blu-ray for 

famous names. The workman- a while, and then drop down to standard 

ship is impressive, as is the price: definition. That’s when it really hits 

under US$10. It was amazingly you.” 

good, to the point that Albert Indeed, with the Sony it left a good 

and Steve saw little difference. deal to be desired. The high notes were 

Gerard thought the scenes seemed too sharp, even shrill at times, and even 

flattened out a little, but he knew the orchestra was a little edgy. The 

what the cable cost. 

candle lit theatre interior was murky. 

The second cable is from a Gerard likened the applause to buckshot 

company called PPC, which has dropped on a tin roof. 

introduced an innovation: an The Pioneer player couldn’t turn 

HDMI conductor that locks, that into Blu-ray, but the difference 

much like an XLR connector. Since HDMI connectors tend to fit tightly you might was anything but subtle. The voice was 

think that superfluous, but professional installers might disagree. They know what smoothed out, and the orchestra took 

it’s like to get a late evening phone call because the customer’s dog has dislodged a on body. “It’s not really surround,” said 

cable, and no one knows where it’s supposed to Why go. We had a seen free the PPC connector version? Albert, “but it’s detailed, and it’s not all 

in Vegas, and asked whether the company planned to license it. No, we were told, closed in. This player is the audiophile’s 

PPC would use it on its own cables. A pity, we thought. For years now, we have been publishing, best on friend.” our Web The site, applause a free PDF was much 

Well, we need not have worried, because the version cable turned of our in magazine. a very good perform- improved as well, and we could now see 

ance. “I liked it best,” said Steve. “I was focusing The on various reason is aspects simple. of We the know image, you’re into looking the half for shadows information, in the and theatre, 

looking for detail and clarity. On the image of that the is thunderstorm almost certainly seen why from you’ve space, come to “I visit really our have site. to And pick that’s up the why Blu-ray 

there were better nuances in the shades of blue we give on the away horizon.” what some Gerard competitors thought consider version,” to be said a Gerard. startlingly large 

there were more tonal nuances, and slightly amount bluer whites. of information…for Albert identified free. a pos- We were left in no doubt that we had 

sible improvement in contrast, though he judged We it not would significant. give it all away for free, if done we could well still to upgrade stay in business. to the Pioneer. 

The PPC costs US$73 for our 12-foot length. Recent figures indicate that each issue It is lacks getting some downloaded features found as many on the 

as 100,000 times, and that figure keeps growing. competition, but they’re not perfor- 

Yes, we know, if we had a nickel for each mance download… features. We are of course left 

the Sony, but Albert wasn’t satisfied, You can Truth even is, make we’re out in the the business occasional of helping wondering you enjoy whether music some at home (presumably 

blaming the lackluster sound on the rustling under of the pages best by possible the musicians.” conditions. And expensive) movies too. upscale We’ll famous-name do what we need Blu-ray 

limitations of a live production. “I have to There do in might order have to get been the information an improve- to players you. will emerge to put this one in the 

a studio recording of this scene, and it ment in Of the course, image we as also well. want Gerard you said to read he our shade. published editions too. We 

sounds way better,” he said. 

noticed hope that, early having in the scene read this that far, Fleming you’ll want to Our read guess on. 

is yes, and having this 

With the Pioneer it sounded radically was barefoot, something not evident already excellent player puts us in a 

better, and we glanced at each other as with the slightly more diffused image position to make comparisons. It took 

the strings picked up the theme. “You’re from the Sony, but our discussion cen- the Compact Disc years to go from its 

just arrested right away by the sound of tred almost entirely around the music. shrill, thin beginnings to genuine high 

the strings,” said Albert, “not to mention The orchestra seemed farther forward, fidelity. We expect Blu-ray to continue 

the woodwinds and the French horns. for one thing, as it would be in the actual evolving for a while too, and we’ll be 

Fleming’s voice is particularly present. opera house, and the warm, majestic watching with great interest. 


Jim thiel (1947 - 2009) 

It seemed to me that Jim Thiel 

had always been around, and had 

always been making loudspeakers. 

Certainly he was already a legend 

in the audio world when I first 

began editing this magazine, 

and as you probably know that 

was a long time ago. That made 

him a pioneer, I guess. There 

were other pioneers who had 

named their companies after 

them, but so many of them are 

today mere marketers. Or else 

their iconic companies were long 

ago taken over by conglomerates. 

Jim Thiel was different. He and 

cofounder Kathy Gornik made the 

perfect team and continued to pool 

their complementary talents from 

1977 to now. The company began 

in a garage with startup funding 

from Jim and Kathy’s respective 

parents. Today it occupies 35,000 sq. 

ft. of space, and ships its distinctive 

loudspeakers throughout the world. By 

1978 Jim brought out his first speaker 

with a slanted front, like his flagship CS 

3.7, shown here. 

Like a few (very few) of the major 

designers of high-end loudspeakers, Jim 

was not the sort who picked drivers out 

of a catalog and bolted them into a box. 

The drivers were of his own design, 

and that included the tweeters. Who 

still builds tweeters today instead of just 

ordering them? Nor were his custom 

drivers mere minor variations on offthe-shelf 

drivers, as so many are. 

Here’s an example, among many I 

could cite. Most woofers have deep voice 

coils, in order to boost efficiency. However 

as the coil moves back and forth, 

it goes to the outskirts of the magnetic 

field of the permanent magnet. Jim’s 

solution: a short voice coil and a very 

deep magnetic field, so that the coil could 

never move outside its influence. 

The diaphragm materials were not 

off-the-shelf either. The newest speaker 

uses aluminum diaphragms that look like 

pie plates, and even the top cap on the 

speaker you see on this page is aluminum. 

Jim often used sandwiches of materials 


that would resist breaking up into nodes 

that would generate distortion. At his 

regular CES presentations, Jim would 

provide measurements indicating that 

these materials could lower distortion 

by as much as an order of magnitude. 

No mean feat! 

Then there’s the little matter of 

crossover networks. The textbooks on 

crossover design were mostly written 

half a century ago. Some designers 

reduce the crossover to something as 

simple as a capacitor, whose role is merely 

to keep low frequencies from blowing 

the tweeter. Jim Thiel’s crossovers were 

at the opposite extreme, so large they 

looked like amplifiers. The crossover 

design would come last, when everything 

else was frozen. I first saw the 

CS 3.7 speaker at CES in 2006, 

but I didn’t hear it because, Jim 

told me, the crossover wasn’t done yet. 

Most designers could have given a 

demo the next day, but I got to hear 

the CS 3.7 only a year later! 

UHF has reviewed Thiel speakers 

twice. The CS 2.4 was reviewed in 

issue No. 68. At that time we praised 

it for a lack of midrange veiling and 

uncommonly low distortion. And 

UHF No. 67 had the MCS1 centre 

speaker on its cover. 

Today that speaker is part of 

our Kappa home theatre reference 

system, and its sound dominates that 

system. 

The CS 3.7 will stand as Jim’s 

magnum opus. However I would 

nominate other products for equal 

honors, the SmartSub series. These 

large and expensive boxes are not for 

everyone or for every room, but there 

are no other subwoofers like them. 

The optional electronic Integrator has 

myriad settings to make a SmartSub 

work perfectly with an existing system. 

You can “tell” it the characteristics of 

your main speakers, and you can even 

“tell” it where it is located in the room, 

and it will adjust itself accordingly. 

I chatted with Jim in January, and 

at that time he looked drawn and 

concerned. He didn’t breathe a word 

concerning his health, but Thiel had just 

laid off a sizeable portion of its production 

staff, and he was worried about what 

the massive recession might mean for the 

sales of what are, by any measure, luxury 

products. We talked about how you 

broaden the market for your products 

without trashing your brand. 

Jim Thiel was known for his passion, 

courtesy and modesty, a modesty that 

seemed odd in a man of his accomplishments. 

It is painful to realize there can 

be no more products from the mind of 

one of audio’s most brilliant creators. 

Thanks for a great 32 years, Jim. 


Is South Korea the new Japan? 

Though Japan had originally 

invaded the hi-fi world with rather 

generic gear, it subsequently 

became known as a source of precise, 

hand-made products conceived in accord 

with century-old traditions of perfection. 

In this issue we have a review of a 

hand-wound step-up transformer from 

Korea, and then there is this upscale 

CD player. 

And the Eximus CD-10 (the word 

is the first-person plural present active 

indicative of the Latin exeo, which gave 

us the English word exit), is a classic 

Red Book CD player, with a Philips CD 

Pro2 top-loading drive. What makes it 

a little different is what you can see on 

the next page: there is a wide choice of 

digital inputs, which allows you to use 

its digital-to-analog converter with your 

computer, or pretty much any digital 

source you have or may have in the 

future. 

This is not just a nice extra, because 

many audiophiles are shifting strategy, 

perhaps listening to both CDs and vinyl, 

but also moving at least some of their 

favorite music to computer hard drives. 

We don’t think that CD players are 

obsolete, but expensive players whose 

digital-to-analog converters can be used 

only with their built-in transports belong 

to the past. This one is an example of the 


Listening Room 

April Music Eximus 

new generation. 

And its DAC is a modern one, too, 

capable of decoding not just the usual 

16-bit 44.1 kHz digital data, but also files 

with up to 24 bits and sampling rates of 

96 kHz. That takes in a lot of ground. 

Note that a 96 kHz file can be further 

upsampled to 192 kHz, though decoding 

of files that already have 192 kHz resolution 

is not possible. 

Incidentally, that extra resolution 

is not just for external sources. Frontpanel 

buttons allow you to upsample 

Red Book material to one of the higher 

standards. Though we did experiment 

with this feature, we were — as usual — 

not totally convinced that it was adding 

significantly to the quality, and we would 

do the actual listening tests without such 

wizardry. You may want to make the 

same comparisons for yourself. 

This might be a good time to mention 

that, happy as we were to see such 

an array of digital inputs, we found an 

unfortunate error. On the next page 

you’ll see that the input jack is the same 

flat USB-A type that is found on computers. 

Trouble is, most USB cables can’t be 

used, because they have a flat connector 

for the computer end, but a smaller, 

USB-B square connector for peripherals. 

Double-ended cables do exist, but they 

are exceedingly rare. 

Please don’t think we are merely 

being officious. There’s a good reason 

computers and peripherals don’t use 

the same connector, and that’s because 

it’s potentially dangerous. If you have a 

cable with a USB-A plug at each end, you 

could plug one computer into a second 

computer and blow up the motherboards 

in them both. In the immediate we were 

disappointed not to be able to use such 

upscale USB cables as those lent to us 

by BISAudio. For both these reasons we 

hope April Music will correct this. 

The drive’s top cover is on rails, and 

though it’s not motorized it makes a 

satisfying woosh sound when you open 

or close it, rather like the doors aboard 

a Starfleet ship. A magnetic puck holds 

the disc in place. Like most top-loading 

players (except the YBA) the Eximus will 

not play with its bay open. 

A full-featured remote is included, 

but it’s made of a plastic that seems out 

of tune with the upscale ambitions of the 

Eximus. 

Elsewhere in this issue we use the 

player’s accessible converter to experiment 

with computer-based sources, but 

in this review we concentrate on its basic 

talent: actually playing silvery discs. Of 

course we compared it to our reference 

Linn Unidisk 1.1 player. Both were connected 

to our Omega system. 

We began with a particularly smoothsounding 

piece for string orchestra (at 

least it should sound smooth), Glazunov’s 

Sérénade espagnole played by I Musici de 

Montréal (Analekta AN 2 9897). As per 

our usual practice, we didn’t attempt 

to use our test microphone to match 

levels (we know from experience that 

this doesn’t yield satisfactory results). 

Rather, we chose a level that everyone 

found comfortable, with our reference 

player first, and then with the Eximus. 

However our first listen was less than 

satisfying. We were happy to note that 

the solo cello remained silky, without 

hardness, and indeed Albert (who briefly 

played the cello himself) even found it 

improved. However the tonal balance 

had shifted away from the low frequencies, 

and was therefore lacking in the 

chocolaty richness it had with our Linn

player. “The texture of reality is not 

there,” said Steve. 

The result was that we had second 

thoughts about the playback level we had 

selected. Our Omega system has a huge 

dynamic range, and we could certainly 

get away with raising the horsepower a 

notch. We added some 2 dB of level and 

listened again. The sound was certainly 

richer this time. 

Does that mean the Eximus needs to 

be listened to at louder level? Not really, 

as we would soon see. 

We continued with the choral recording 

Now the Green Blade Riseth (Proprius 

PRCD9093). We maintained the higher 

level we had settled on for the Glazunov, 

but we quickly reconsidered. 

Oh, the recording came out in 

satisfactory fashion, with exemplary 

clarity, very good separation of choral 

voices, and a transparency that let us 

easily follow the counterpoint of the 

solo flute with the singers. However we 

also noticed that on louder passages the 

voices hardened up. We listened again 

with 2 dB less volume. That’s not a big 

difference, and most listeners would 

consider it barely detectable, but it was 

just enough. “Forget what I said before,” 

commented Albert, who praised the 

subtlety and finesse of the sound. “My 

respect for this player is growing,” said 

Steve, who admired the long decay of 

bass notes. 

The other familiar qualities of this 

recording were intact, including the 

gorgeous three-dimensional space. We 

wish all choral recordings sounded like 

this. For that matter — even though we 

had more recordings to listen to — we 

wished all CD players could make it 

sound like this. 

Although loud passages can reveal a 

lot about a CD player’s performance, in 

fact digital systems have more trouble 

with softer passages, because they 

have less data available to work with. 

Our favorite harp selection (Marcel 

Tournier’s Vers la source dans le bois, 

from Susann McDonald’s Caprice album, 

Klavier K11133) has a broad dynamic 

range, but it also includes delicate and 

delicious passages that, even at high 

playback levels, hover just above the limit 

of audibility. All too many players add a 

layer of fog that obscures the details and 

saps much of the pleasure. 

The soft passages were what came 

through best, and the cascades of soft 

notes were a wonder. In louder passages 

the bottom end was solid, revealing in 

most satisfying fashion the sheer power 

of this often underestimated instrument. 

We were less pleased with notes in the 

high midrange, whose character was 

not what we are used to hearing on this 

remarkable recording. “A harp doesn’t 

sound like that,” said Steve. “It loses the 

organic nature of the instrument.” 

We turned to a popular song next, 

Mary Chapin Carpenter’s Where Time 

Stands Still from her album Stones in 

the Road (Columbia CK64327). This is 

a gorgeously evocative song about lost 

love, with accompaniment by Carpenter’s 

solo piano. 

Played the first time we enjoyed it 

(Steve made a comment about the power 

of poetry), but the piano notes were of 

uneven volume. It sounded rather too 

loud, and of course major-label engineers 

tend to master their recordings louder 

than audiophiles do. We suspected that 

lowering the level would help, and we 

dropped it by 3 dB. We were right. 


Brand/model: April Music Eximus 

CD-10 

Price: C$6995, US$6000 

Size (WDH): 44 x 45 x 12 cm 

Most liked: Outstanding sound, full 

access to its excellent converter 

Least liked: Wrong connector for 

USB connectivity 

Verdict: A terrific choice for CD… 

and for the future 

At softer volume the upper midrange 

was back in balance with the rest of the 

spectrum, and there were no more complaints. 

Indeed, both Albert and Gerard 

thought the text was easier to follow even 

than with our Linn. “It’s not just the 

lyrics,” said Albert, “it’s also her way of 

singing them.” 

We pulled out our double album of 

Love, the remastered Beatles disc made 

for the Cirque du Soleil Beatle-themed 

show in Las Vegas. Though we usually 

play the second disc, which has a highresolution 

DVD-Audio version (as well 

as a dts surround version), we listened to 

the Red Book CD disc in order to keep 

the comparison fair. We listened to the 

opening a cappella song, Because. 

It was nothing less than glorious, 

with the voices of John, Paul and George 

(overdubbed to make a total of nine 

voices) flowing without effort from our 

speakers. We made a note to check back 

to the original LP (it’s on Abbey Road) 

to see whether it sounded this good. In 

this remastered version natural sounds 

of birds have been inserted into the 

pauses, and we were pleased to note 

that, soft and subtle though they were, 

they were perfectly preserved by the 

Eximus player. Though our much more 

expensive Linn had what seemed to be 

more dynamics, the Eximus left us with 

nothing to complain about. 

One final song, this one from Jennifer 

Warnes, specifically from her album 

The Hunter. Warnes became particularly 

famous for her collaboration with 

Leonard Cohen on Famous Blue Raincoat. 

But The Hunter includes one song put 

together partly by Cohen and Warnes, 

titled Way Down Deep. It’s a love song… 

no, perhaps a little more direct than 




that! It includes rhythm provided by a 

drum that, on the evidence, must be big 

enough to live in. There is, therefore, a 

fabulous low end, and that’s the way the 

Eximus communicated it. At the same 

time the clarity was outstanding, and 

the player never allowed the percussion 

to cover up Jennifer’s single entendre 

lyrics. “At first I wasn’t sure,” said Steve, 

“but now I am. It’s a home run.” 

Would the Eximus also hit a home 

run on the test bench? We put on some 

test discs and watched the scope. 

Above left is a 100 Hz square wave, 

and it’s a good one. There is but a hint of 

overshoot, and it’s quickly damped even 

The Eximus’s appearance reminded 

me of a very well-cut grey flannel suit, and 

its sound matched its impressively elegant 

image. Its harmonic presentation was 

flawless. Layer after layer of music blended 

beautifully. Resolution and detail were 

equally strong, and it competed tenaciously 

with the Linn in these respects. 

Though the sonic personalities of the 

two players differ, I won’t say the Linn is 

always the better player. In fact the Eximus 

and the Linn seem almost cut from the same 

cloth, and that cloth is a superb weave. 

—Steve Bourke 

Take your time with this player. We did. 

It needs time to grow on you, because at first 

it doesn’t seek to impress or call attention 

to its many qualities, it just plays music as 

simply as it was recorded. Nothing added it 

seems, no frills, and that is the best compliment 

I can think of when it comes to high 

fidelity. Relax, get involved and enjoy. Its 


so. There is only the slightest rightward 

tilt of the wave top, indicating a barelythere 

high frequency rolloff. Nothing to 

see here, let’s move along. 

The sine wave on the right is a 1 kHz 

signal recorded a very low 60 dB below 

maximum level. The shape is excellent, 

with a little bit of noise causing ripples 

across it (in this immobilized image it 

shows up as an anomaly at the very top 

and bottom of each cycle). There are 

indeed quieter players than the Eximus, 

but it’s not significant enough to be 

audible. 

Jitter was low, though we saw it 

increase noticeably when we played a 

CROSSTALK 

purpose is to remove the unnecessary and 

extraordinary attributes of recorded material, 

allowing you to partake of the essence 

of the music and the emotional quality 

conveyed by the performers. 

Transparency became a given, as I could 

have written in the air the clearest lyrics I 

had heard in a long time. Bass was solid and 

particularly musical, not just an impressive, 

heavy thud. Massed voices rose and floated, 

while others appeared on the stage, clearly 

set behind the first rows. It seemed the kind 

of player one could listen to without the 

slightest hint of strain. 

No strain, as in live unamplified music, 

would you say? 

Exactly. 

—Albert Simon 

There’s one really important thing the 

Eximus has that our superlative reference 

player does not: you can plug something 

into its digital-to-analog converter other 

disc that had been deliberately cut with 

a laser. Jitter aside, the player tracked the 

damaged record well, easily meeting Red 

Book standard. 

The April Music Eximus has a large 

footprint, and it is in fact too deep to fit 

smaller equipment racks comfortably. 

But there’s a lot in the box, and that’s 

why it’s so big. It will play your CDs with 

style and musical satisfaction far into the 

future. It will also play the music that is 

already on your computer, or soon will 

be. 

The Compact Disc drive is limited to 

Red Book specs. The Eximus converter 

is not. 

than the built-in disc drive. That is as it 

should be. A lot of the considerable money 

you’re spending if you buy an Eximus is for 

its outstanding DAC. What if, like many 

audiophiles (including us) you also stock 

music on a hard drive? Are you supposed to 

buy another DAC just for computer music? 

The Eximus, then, can be the centre of 

your digital music system, able to reproduce 

bitstreams from pretty much anything. And 

that, I am convinced, is what can justify the 

upscale cost. 

Not that it is at all weak just as a CD 

player, because the opposite is true. Of 

course you can play it too loud and notice 

artifacts you would rather not have heard, 

but its resolution is so good that you don’t 

need to turn it up to 11 just to enjoy the music 

or even understand the lyrics. And if it’s an 

upgrade from a lesser player (which is to say 

most players), you’ll hear music you’ve never 

heard before. 

—Gerard Rejskind

Good enough UHF uses them! 

This remarkable cable is from Atlas. 

Unlike so many cable companies, this Scottish 

company keeps markups reasonable. 

Navigator All-Cu is made from strands of pure 

copper, each drawn from a single crystal. 

So are the connectors. 

The Navigator All-Cu passed a blind test 

in UHF No. 71. 

Can it pass your test? 

THE AUDIOPHILE STORE 

www.uhfmag.com/Cables.html

Mov ing coil cartridges 


Allnic Step-up 

are often referred to, 

incorrectly, as having low 

output. In fact what they 

have is low impedance. And perhaps that 

calls for a little explanation. 

A cartridge’s output power can be 

defined as its voltage multiplied by its 

current (assuming voltage and current 

are in phase, but let’s not complicate 

things). A typical moving magnet cartridge 

will have an output at relatively 

high voltage (perhaps 2 to 3 mV) at 

low current. A low impedance (MC) 

cartridge will have perhaps a tenth of 

that output voltage, but it will be able 

to supply higher current. The output 

is therefore not really low, merely 

different. 

That causes a problem, however. 

A phono preamplifier expects to “see” 

voltage, and so low voltage might as well 

be low output. The usual practice is to 

add extra amplification to increase the 

voltage to what you would get from a 

high impedance cartridge. 

But amplification stages add noise 

and distortion, and there is another solution 

that used to be common. A step-up 

transformer can trade off current against 

voltage, and allow a low impedance 

cartridge to drive a phono preamp with 

no extra amplification. 

So why doesn’t everyone use transformers? 

It’s because making one good 

enough for a tiny signal requires extraordinary 

precision work, and it’s not the 

sort of craftsmanship you can easily 

automate. Because a step-up transformer 


handles such a small signal, it requires 

extraordinary shielding against the 

electromagnetic interference generated 

by our increasingly connected world. 

The result is that, over the past decade 

or more, we have heard step-up transformers 

whose sound can be charitably 

described as disastrous. 

We ourselves have long owned a 

Bryston TF-1 transformer, which was 

once an everyday element of our reference 

system, and which two decades 

ago was surprisingly affordable, perhaps 

around $450 (we’re quoting this from 

memory). Though Bryston still uses that 

transformer in some of its preamplifiers, 

it no longer offers it as a standalone 

product. Certainly it would cost several 

times more today, and it was a bargain 

even when we acquired it. Hammertone 

Audio shipped us an earlier model of the 

Allnic, and then asked us to send it back 

and try this newer one instead. 

The AUT-2000 is in a massivelyshielded 

box, with holes that look as 

if they are made for heat dissipation, 

though of course the tiny signal produces 

no significant heat. The twin switches, 

which can be set with a coin, can vary 

the gain from the multitap transformer 

to provide the best signal that won’t overload 

the MM (conventional) input of the 

phono preamp. We ran them all the way 

up and noted that they did not overload 

our phono preamp even on the loudest 

passages we could find (obviously, your 

mileage may vary). 

We did note a glitch: we thought we 

had lost the right channel, and began 

looking for improperly-inserted interconnect 

cables, only to find that one of 

the Allnic’s switches was not set just so. 

The switch detents are not as positive as 

they could be. 

We did our listening in our Alpha 

room, connecting our Bryston to our 

Audiomeca J-1 turntable and Goldring 

Excel moving-coil cartridge. We listened 

to four selected LP’s, and then 

repeated the session using the Allnic 

transformer. We used one of our Atlas 

Navigator All-Cu interconnect cables 

between transformer and preamp. 

The first thing we noted is how very 

quiet the Allnic was. Of course you would 

expect a transformer to be quieter than a 

low-impedance amplification stage, but 

that will be true only if the shielding is 

adequate and if internal grounding has 

been done properly. Phono preamplifiers 

are often noisy in our Alpha room, 

whose ungrounded lead-filled side wall 

pulls in plenty of less-than-delightful 

radio frequency interference. Not in this 

case. 










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dolorero odiamco rtiscil lamconsequat 

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augait am, core tisi. 


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tat. 














Brand/model: Allnic AUT-2000 

Price: US$1600 

Size (WDH): 16 x 11.5 x 5.8 cm 

Most liked: Iril iure molobor sustismod 

molore mincilit 

Least liked: Lorem eum iurer iure 

tatue modigna feugait eros 

Verdict: Iquametuerat nullamc ommolore 

con utatuer 

CROSSTALK 

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Say, don’t we 


Audiomat Phono 1.6 

already ow n one 

of these? No, ours is the 

Phono-1.5. But with software 

a “point-one” upgrade is just a minor 

update and bug fix (and typically it’s 

free, too, but dream on). Yet this new 

preamp, Audiomat’s only solid state 

product, other than the DAC’s, looks 

totally different from ours. And it’s billed 

as a major upgrade, the result of years of 

research. 

It would need to be a major upgrade, 

because the Phono-1.5 — successor to a 

Phono-1 that was merely pretty good — 

was definitely reference quality. It was, in 

short, a tough act to follow. Then again, 

this new preamp has been something like 

a decade in the making. 

Despite the small change in the 

model name, the Phono-1.6 doesn’t 

look anything like its predecessor. That 

preamp was wide and black, with an 

external power supply that looked like 

an experimenter’s box, with a captive 

power cord. The new one, which you can 

see above, is back to being half-width, 

just like the original Phono-1, and it too 

looks like an experimenter’s box, only a 

much nicer one. The power supply, at its 

right, is in a disparate but rather more 

handsome box than the old one, and now 

has a standard IEC jack, so that you can 

choose your favorite power cord. Like 

the previous one, the Phono-1.6 comes 

mounted on a set of three hefty cones. 

Curiously, the power supply sits on little 

stick-on rubber feet. If it were ours we 

would fix that, we thought, and…who 

knows? 

The power supply itself has a captive 

umbilical cord, with a five-pin XLR 

plug that connects to the main chassis. 


Like t he 

earlier preamp, 

the Phono-1.6 has no 

settings to accommodate different 

moving coil phono cartridges. 

This may be a deal-breaker for some, 

though it should be said that today’s MC 

cartridges are less weird than they once 

were, and the days when you needed to 

choose extreme impedance or capacitance 

settings are pretty much gone. 

As we have explained before, the task 

facing the designer of a phono preamplifier 

is so huge that it’s a wonder anyone 

ever gets it right, and indeed at one 

time no one did. The circuits must deal 

with impossibly small signals, often well 

under a millivolt — and that’s peak level, 

with even tinier currents representing 

the subtle nuances that make music so 

thrilling. Despite that, there must not 

be audible noise at the output. As if 

that weren’t enough, the amplification 

is not flat across the whole frequency 

range, but must greatly boost the lows 

and attenuate the highs, to compensate 

for the curve used in the recording 

process. It must be able to follow even 

the quickest transients, something some 

phono preamps are notoriously rotten 

at. Last but hardly least, it must be able 

to transmit the visceral, organic power 

of music. When it succeeds it feels like 

magic, because it is. 

You can, of course, get a phono 

preamp for as little $20. It gets the job 

done, but don’t be too surprised if it 

flunks out on pretty much all the criteria 

we’ve mentioned. 

Still, this Audiomat is a long way 

from a $20 preamp, which means we 

went into the session with a tall stack of 

expectations. First, of course, we began 

by putting the Phono 1.6 through a 

rigorous break-in process, using the 

special Granite Audio break-in CD (it is 

recorded at very low level, with 

a reverse RIAA equalization 

curve, so that a phono preamp 

“sees” it as a phono cartridge). 

Though we would be doing the 

evaluation with the MM input, 

we gave both the MM and MC 

inputs about 200 hours of running 

time. Each! 

Our cartridge, the London Reference 

mounted on our Linn LP12, is not 

actually a moving magnet cartridge, 

but it does have high output, just like 

an MM. We listened, then, with our 

Omega system, comparing the Phono 1.6 

directly to its illustrious predecessor. 

We noticed one difference right off: 

the Phono 1.6 is quiet. We know we 

said that about the older model too, but 

quietness is relative. It shows up like this: 

turn the preamp volume up to normal 

listening volume, and cycle through 

the inputs. Can you tell, from listening 

position, which one is the phono input? 

With the Phono 1.5 we just could. Not 

with this one. 

We picked out four albums that we 

figured would let us determine the difference 

between the two phono preamps, 

if indeed there was a meaningful one. 

Those albums would not turn out to 

be enough, but let’s not get ahead of 

ourselves. 

We began with the wind band piece 

76 Trombones, found on Frederick Fennell’s 

double LP, Beachcomber (Reference 

Recordings RR-62). It begins softly, as 

though a marching band were approaching 

from the distance, but it sure doesn’t 

remain soft! 

The music had impressive power, but 

then we are used to hearing it that way, 

because we have both the amplification 

and the loudspeakers to do it justice. 

Albert and Toby were immediately 

impressed by the Phono 1.6’s rendition. 

“There’s more substance,” said Albert, 

“the music has more body and more 

density, with more natural warmth.” 

Toby agreed, finding a fuller sound 

with greater density in the higher frequencies. 

“The odd harmonics in this 

music are smoother. The cymbals are

etter. There’s more space, and the piece 

seemed to go by faster.” 

Gerard, for his part, was reserving 

judgement. “The clarity is very good, 

the dynamics are great, and there’s 

a little more top end when all the 

instruments play at once, but I’m 

not sure it’s better.” 

Fortunately there were more 

recordings to be listened to. 

We continued with our old 

favorite, William Walton’s wonderfully 

entertaining suite, Façade 

(Reference Recordings RR-16). Ours 

is the 45 rpm version, made when its 

master tape was fresh and before it had 

undertaken its surprisingly steep decline. 

Properly reproduced, it is unbelievably 

rich. 

Certainly it sounded impressive 

with the Phono-1.6. “There’s even more 

subtle detail, and you hear it without 

having to make an effort,” said Albert, 

“and yet it’s not as though the music 

sounded labored before.” Gerard, for 

his part, found the Phono-1.6 growing 

on him. “The timbres are magnificent, 

and the articulation of the instruments 

is particularly excellent,” he said. “The 

depth is tremendous, and the soft passages 

are full of fine details.” 

Toby, for his part, found the preamp 

excellent even for an Audio mat. “Their 

products are highly tuned,” he said. “The 

wrong kind of tuning, too close to the 

limit, can actually sound overstressed 

and fatiguing, but there’s nothing fatiguing 

about this preamp. There’s better 

definition of instruments and the space 

they are in. Listen to how far back the 

snare drum is in the sound field. The 

woodwind duo is better too, with better 

unison.” 

This recording, we might add, is a 

particularly favorite in our tests, not only 

for its sheer sonic excellence, but also 

because its variety of instrumentation 

can wring out every aspect of a system… 

or any part of that system. 

We had a couple of recent acquisitions 

standing by. One was Leonard 

Cohen’s Song of Bernadette, performed 

wonderfully well by Jennifer Warnes. It’s 

from the justly celebrated album Famous 

Blue Raincoat, not the noisy original 

1986 pressing, which we have used 

before, but its recent four-disc 45 rpm 

re-release by Cisco 

music (for more about 

this recording, see Software 

Reviews in this issue). 

With the Phono 1.6 it was better, 

more realistic and natural, yet it had 

already wowed us the first time around. 

“Jennifer has a warm voice anyway,” 

said Toby, “but it’s even warmer with 

the Phono 1.6. And it’s wonderful to be 

able to hear the fricatives…like the final 

“d” in “heard.” Indeed, Albert had the 

impression that Warnes was taking more 

time to articulate each word correctly. 

There was also a tighter integration 

between the voice and the orchestral 

accompaniment. 

The stereo image was particularly 

good too. Though that is a detail that 

is not strictly of a musical nature, you 

expect that a phono preamp with this 

sort of price tag will get it right. Still, 

the music predominated. “With the 

Phono-1.5 I had been noting where each 

instrument was located in the sound 

space,” added Toby. “With the Phono- 

1.6 I didn’t care.” 

The second new acquisition was 

South African jazzman Hugh Masekela’s 

album Hope (Triloka/Analogue Productions 

APJ82020), from which we selected 

the famous song about the coal train, 

Stimela. We have used the CD of this 

recording before, but we now have a 

vinyl version. We put it on, knowing 

that, to get all of its impact, it needs 

plenty of volume. Playing loud of course 

lets you hear not only what’s right about 

a piece, but also what’s wrong. 

And there was indeed something 

wrong. Gerard noted with approval 

the delicious subtleness of the lightlytouched 

cymbal, but also a disturbingly 

artificial aspect of the sibilance. Some- 

thing wasn’t working as it should. 

Of course we were aware that it might 

be the extra clarity of the Phono-1.6 

that was letting bad stuff through, 

and we wondered how clean the tiny 

stylus on our London Reference 

cartridge was. Just before listening 

to this selection we had given it what 

we had thought was an adequate 

cleaning with the Enzow Zerodust, 

that gummy little pad that seems to 

suck dirt off the tip. But we know 

we can’t rely on that alone, and we 

once again cleaned the tip using the 

little brush in the Last Stylus Cleaner 

bottle. The usual (safe) way is to brush 

from the rear of the cartridge toward the 

front. We had of course done that at the 

start of the test, and we did it again, but 

to no apparent avail. We then tried it at 

a different angle, with the brush parallel 

to the cartridge instead of perpendicular, 

so that the bristles could better clean the 

sides of the stylus. 

Success! The slight edge to Masekela’s 

voice, which Toby referred to as a 

resonance, disappeared. 

At this point, however, neither Albert 

not Gerard was certain that the Phono- 

1.6 truly sounded right on this recording. 

“The sound is denser,” said Albert, “with 

very good depth. Masekela’s voice is 

very good, but not better than with our 

reference. I’m not convinced.” 

We weren’t about to go out on such 

an ambiguous note. We pulled out two 

more recordings, and listened to them 

with our own preamp, before putting 

the Phono 1.6 back into service. 

The first was the older Mobile Fidelity 

version of Beethoven’s Symphony 

No. 9, with Solti conducting the Chicago 

Symphony. We enjoyed the astonishing 

fireworks of the final movement. 

“Beethoven sure knew what he was 

doing,” commented Gerard. 

So do the Audiomat engineers, apparently. 

Good as the recording sounded the 

first time, its sound became richer and 

better defined with the newer Phono 1.6. 

Lower strings had more presence, with 

satisfying resonance, and there was 

better definition of full orchestra. The 

extra liveliness just felt right. “The 

Phono-1.5 is detailed,” said Albert, “but 

it’s detailed in the higher frequencies. 

With the newer one there’s extra warmth 




because of the detailed midrange.” 

We still had one question concerning 

the slightly odd sound of the voice in 

Stimela. Our London Reference phono 

cartridge is neither a moving coil nor a 

moving magnet type, but its nominal 

5 volt output is some 6 dB higher than 

that of the typical MM cartridge. That 

could be high enough to cause problems 

with a preamp that lacks sufficient 

headroom. The Phono-1.5 did just fine 

with it under all circumstances, but 

did its successor have the same talent? 

Gerard had just the recording to settle 

the question. 

It may have been in fact possibly the 

second stereo LP ever released (the first, 

from Audio Fidelity, was a test master 

launched hastily into production in 

violation of contract). It featured drummer 

Shelly Manne and a young pianist 

named Andre Previn, with bassist Leroy 

Vinnegar. This outstanding LP, a jazz 

adaptation of the music from Broadway’s 

Lil’ Abner (Stereo Records S7019) 

unmatched by pretty much anything 

today, has grooves the width of a small 

airport runway. Would this bundle of 

It’s funny — and delightful — how a 

technical improvement can translate into a 

richer experience of music. 

The Audiomat engineers consider this a 

“point one” increment, from 1.5 to 1.6, but I 

felt the result — an increase in musical appreciation 

— was a good deal richer than a tenth 

of a point or the price difference between the 

two models. The first time ’round, with the 

1.5, I noticed how clearly Jennifer Warnes’ 

accompanists were positioned in the sound 

stage; but the second time around I didn’t 

even care. I stopped writing and just listened 

to the way she shaped her notes. 

Again with the 1.5 version, Hugh 

Masekela’s African place names in Stimela 

were close to overacted, nearly a rant. 

With the 1.6 they were less overdone, more 

discreet, and for that reason much more 

effective. 

The difference wasn’t just in the vocals. 

Everything benefited, from double bass to 

cymbals. 

—Toby Earp 


raw energy overwhelm the Phono 1.6? 

No it didn’t, but we certainly heard 

differences between the two phono 

preamps. “It’s a better recording than 

I thought,” said Toby, “and I thought 

it was good before.” Albert agreed. 

“The instruments don’t just float in 

space, they carve out their space.” The 

dynamics were downright explosive, 

inviting comparisons with Sheffield 

LPs of the direct-to-disc era. Once 

again, the Phono-1.6 seemed to have 

more solid midrange than its illustrious 

predecessor. We hasten to add that this 

is a dynamic effect, caused by the way it 


Brand/model: Audiomat Phono-1.6 

Price: C$3290 

Size (WDH): Main unit 14 x 23.5 x 

8 cm, power supply 10.5 x 12.5 x 6 cm 

Most liked: Very quiet, very transparent 

performance 

Least liked: No adjustments available 

for weird MC cartridges 

Verdict: The magic of its predecessor, 

and a little more 

CROSSTALK 

I was so used to the quality and refinement 

of the 1.5 reference unit that I kept 

reconsidering my impressions during the 

listening tests until the very end, when it 

became quite obvious that this new phono 

stage was quite an improvement. 

This unit is not just a decent upgrade, as 

I felt in the beginning, most likely because 

I found it hard to believe that much of an 

improvement could be added to the previous 

model. It is a substantial accomplishment. 

The differences became striking when we 

switched back to the reference. It seemed as 

if, with the 1.6, we had done a major cable 

upgrade. 

More of the essence of the music was 

allowed to flow, filling wonderfully the 

whole frequency range with — dare I say — a 

gorgeously juicy sound. There, I dared. 

Ever tasted a nice, crisp pear and then a 

deliciously ripe one? Then you know. 


I had to do a lot of listening, and listening 

behaves with a changing music signal, 

and it isn’t something you expect to see 

on a static frequency response test. 

We were glad we had added in those 

two other LPs, because they reassured 

us that we really heard what we thought 

we heard. After just the first four recordings 

we would have been in for a long 

inconclusive discussion as to the wisdom 

of migrating to the new phono preamp. 

After six recordings we knew where we 

were going. Yes, the Phono-1.6 would 

join the long list of our reference gear. 

Beyond any question of dynamics or 

fuller midrange, what a component like 

this one can deliver is not something one 

would attempt to measure, and that is a 

serving of magic. We heard it when we 

first listened to the Audiomat Phono-1.5 

some years ago, we have heard it with 

a few — but very few — other audio 

components. And we heard it during this 

test session. 

What can this sort of magic do for 

you? It can make you eager to free up 

some time to listen to some music, 

and there’s nothing more magical than 

that. 

again, to be sure of what I was hearing. The 

difference wasn’t as clear cut as it had been 

when we had adopted the Phono 1.5 in the 

first place. Then, it was the sheer magic of 

this preamp that had made the decision easy. 

But what happens when you have two phono 

preamps that are graduates of Hogwarts? 

I have to add that I wasn’t wildly eager 

to adopt this new preamp in any case. 

Ideally our reference systems would never 

change (look up the word “reference” in the 

dictionary, and you’ll see why). When we do 

make changes, it’s because we figure a new 

product will make a better working tool. A 

better phono preamp can let us do better 

evaluations of amplifiers and loudspeakers. 

But that’s a tall order, even if a new product 

is judged “better” than what we own. 

After the long listening session had 

ended, I was satisfied. This new preamp 

really does everything better than even the 

old one did, and it’s quieter besides. What’s 

not to like? 

—Gerard Rejskind

Audio Space Galaxy 34 

This pleasant little tube 

amplifier is not the first product 

from this Hong Kong 

manufacturer that we have 

reviewed. We first ran across the brand 

in UHF No. 78, in which we listened to 

the AS-3i, also an integrated with EL34 

output tubes. It pleased us, and we were 

even more impressed by the gigantic 

Audio Space Reference 3.1, reviewed in 

UHF No. 82. 

This amplifier is compact, but pick it 

up (carefully, remembering to bend your 

knees!) and you’ll realize it’s more than 

an empty box. The back end, with its 

three transformers, is particularly heavy, 

which is as it should be. It is common for 

tube amplifiers to have too little iron in 

their output transformers, with disastrous 

performance at low frequencies. 

The “34” in the name refers to the 

EL34 output tubes. It’s not the most 

powerful tube in the extended 6L6 tube 

family, but it is possibly the sweetestsounding. 

For those who need more 

than this amp’s 32 watt maximum, there 

is also a Galaxy 88, which uses (you 

guessed it) KT88 tubes. 

Like many other tube amplifiers, 

the Galaxy 34 offers a choice of 

operational mode: a switch on the front 

panel — duplicated right on the remote 

control — lets you switch between triode 

and Ultralinear 

mode. This 

involves a tradeoff between power and 

quality, but as we shall see it is not the 

same tradeoff we have seen on amplifiers 

from other manufacturers. 

The EL34, like the other members 

of its family, is a pentode, which is to 

say it has five elements. A triode, as the 

name suggests, has only three. One of 

the two added elements to the pentode 

is what is called the screen grid, which 

is positively charged and accelerates 

electrons flowing from the cathode. 

In so doing it increases the flow, and 

therefore the level of amplification. The 

increased flow is also accompanied by 

non-linear changes in the tube’s characteristics. 

Is a triode therefore better? 

Many audiophiles believe it is. You can 

make an EL34, or any other pentode or 

tetrode, into a triode by tying its screen 

grid to the other positive element, the 

plate. Of course its power output then 

goes down. 

A compromise was developed some 

decades ago, known as Ultralinear 

operation. Invented by Alan Blumlein, 

the same British engineer who defined 

the classic microphone configuration 

for stereo recording, it calls for a trans- 

former with extra screen taps, so that 

the screen grid is neither tied entirely to 

the plate nor to the high voltage supply. 

It is not uncommon for modern tube 

amplifiers to be switchable between 

Ultralinear and full pentode 

mode. Audio Space, on the 

other hand, lets you choose 

between Ultralinear and triode 

operation. 

Anyone searching for raw 

power should look elsewhere. A 

pair of EL34’s can develop 

some 50 watts if driven 

hard enough, but these 

are rated at 32 watts in 

Ultralinear…and just half 

of that in triode mode. 

It goes without saying that 

you’ll want to use this amplifier 

with rather efficient speakers, 

but fortunately such speakers have 

become common today. You could, the 

reasoning goes, choose triode mode for 

chamber music or ballads, but switch to 

Ultra linear for rock or large orchestras. 

To make this simple, you can switch 

from one mode to another with the 

remote control. 

Which is what we did initially, but 

comparisons are difficult, because the 

volume drops in triode mode, and the 

volume knob has no calibrations. Worse, 

it has an index dot only on its front face, 

and the mirrored panel is pretty much 

unreadable anyway. Based on initial 

listening comparisons, we opted to do 

most of our listening in triode mode. 

The front panel is attractive, though 

we found the shiny chrome knobs and 

insert more flashy than informative. 

Note the presence of a headphone jack 

on the front panel. Such a jack is a mixed 

blessing, because the main output shuts 

down when you plug phones into it, and 

that means the presence of a switch at 

the output. The middle knob controls 

the meter display, which can be set to 

read the bias setting on each of the 

four output tubes. It can then be easily 

adjusted with a small screwdriver. 

The rear panel, shown on the next 

page, is simple but perfectly adequate. 

There are just three inputs, rather 

fewer than we would have liked. There 

is, however, a “direct” input, which lets 

you bypass the preamp section and use 




the Galaxy 34 as a power amplifier. Like 

most recent amps it has no tape loop, but 

there is a pair of record-out jacks, to let 

you record on tape or on your computer 

regardless of the setting of the amplifier 

volume control. 

The Galaxy 34 comes with a heavy 

and well-built remote, but its back has to 

be removed with a screwdriver (included) 

to insert batteries. The supplied batteries 

had text entirely in Chinese, but 

their appearance suggested they were 

the common misnamed “super heavy 

duty” batteries, and we dumped them 

in favor of alkalines. We suggest you do 

the same. 

The amplifier is designed for reasonably 

efficient loudspeakers, which 

fortunately are in vogue these days. We 

listened to it in our Alpha room, with its 

easy-to-drive Living Voice Avatar speakers. 

We compared it to our reference 

electronics: a Copland CTA-305 tube 

amplifier and a Moon W-5LE power 

amplifier. Those two units are linked by 

a cable which actually cost more than the 

whole Galaxy 34! 

We anticipated that a small amplifier 

might have problems with high-octane 

percussion, and to check this out we 

put on the Fantasy on a Theme by Haydn 

(Norman Dello Joio, Klavier K11138). 

To give the amp an even break, we 

maximized its output by first listening 

in Ultralinear mode. 

“This is very interesting,” said Albert. 

“Of course there’s less power available, 

but this amplifier has vigor, and the 

orchestra is detailed and energetic.” 

“I like the word ‘vigor,’ said Toby. 

“The low end is surprising. There isn’t 

quite the same sustained energy, and the 

overall sound is less articulate, but the 

rich harmonics are actually better.” We 

noted the spaciousness, too, which was 

very good, though all of the instruments 

were a little more distant. 

But what would happen if we downshifted 

into triode mode? We played the 

piece again, and we liked it even more this 

time. A few back-and-forth comparisons 

merely confirmed our initial impression. 

We decided we would do the rest of the 

listening in triode configuration. We 

would now be down to a (rated) 16 watts 

per channel, but we weren’t about to go 

easy on the amplifier. If it turned out 


to have insufficient 

power for the typical music 

installation, well then, let the chips fall 

where they might. 

Our second recording… 










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dolore dolutat, volobore diat praestismod 

te facilla facil inci blan et aliquis ciliquiscil 

dignis am quis niamet nisse eniamet, 

sis nibh 

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Brand/model: Audio Space Galaxy 34 

Price: C$1859 (equiv. US$1728) 

Size (WDH): 39.5 x 30 x 19.5 cm 

High-level inputs: 3 

Most liked: Warm, engaging sound 

Least liked: Front panel more flashy 

than practical, a need for more inputs 

Verdict: Among smaller tube amps, 

this one is a find 

Another CROSSTALK unique feature! 
























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Re facin henis nisl iustrud enim aute duis euisi ex eril ilismod te te mod et adionse zzrit, senit nonsequis nibh er sum nim aliquis 

You know how most audio magazines do their reviews: a number of 

dignisc iliscipissi. 

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reviewers, some with doubtful “reference” systems, are assigned reviews of 

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individual components. 

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UHF, on the other hand, maintains actual reference systems, on which 

lutpat nibh euguero ea feuguer suscing enis- Iril iure molobor sustismod molore faccum autet, quis aliquat irilismolore exerat 

all reviews are done. All our reviewers participate in each review. The 

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main article is based on the concensus, if there is one, but sometimes on 

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divergence. 

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And then each reviewer gets to write a “Crosstalk,” a personal com- 

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ment, which may even disagree with the others. 

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There is no pressure to confirm. What you read is really what we 

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think. And that is what makes UHF unique. 

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There are now numerous 


Music Through the Air 

ways to move music 

that is stored 

in your computer 

over to your stereo 

system, and most of 

them involve somehow 

getting a USB cable from the 

computer over to the hi-fi. That 

can be handy if the computer and the 

system are nearby, but what if they’re 

not? There’s a less messy way: over the 

air. 

We’ve looked at that possibility 

before. In UHF No. 76 we reviewed 

the Squeezebox 3 (from Slim Devices, 

now a division of Logitech). And there’s 

another popular method: Apple’s Airport 

Express. 

“Airport” is the clever name that 

Apple gave to its Wi-Fi devices. Most 

Airport units are simply wireless routers, 

not unlike those from D-Link, Linksys 

and Netgear. The Airport Express is 

unique, however, and its relatively low 

price (US$99, C$109) has attracted 

audiophiles eager to experiment, and 

also equipment modders. 

Us too. 

The Airport Express is deceptively 

simple. Shaped just like the battery charger 

for a MacBook portable, it plugs right 

into any convenient AC outlet. It has an 

Ethernet connector (necessary so that 

you can set it up from your computer), 

a USB plug intended for a printer that 

is then made accessible to your Wi-Fi 

network, and an audio miniplug output, 

for headphones or an audio cable to your 

amplifier. 

But there is also a hidden output. At 

the bottom of the audio jack is an optical 

transducer that gives you access to the 

raw digital bitstream from the Airport 

Express’s signal. That requires a special 

optical cable, a point we’ll get to in a 

moment. A similar hybrid outlet is found 

on some laptops, and on all current 

Macintosh computers. 

Actually, it would have been nice if 

Apple had found room for a full-sized 

TOSLINK optical jack. Where do you find 

an appropriate cable, with a mini-optical 


jack at 

one end and a conventional TOSLINK 

plug at the other? Apple sells one… 

from Monster, available only as part of 

a cable kit, which includes an extension 

AC cable for the Airport Express and an 

analog cable, going from a mini-phone 

plug to a pair of phono plugs. The kit is 

expensive, too, at US$39 or C$49. 

We do in fact have one of the Monster 

cables, and we also have a much lowerpriced 

TOSLINK cable and an adapter. 

We don’t have, for the moment, a glass 

TOSLINK cable, though several years 

ago we liked what we heard from one 

such cable, a Wireworld Super Nova. 

Amphenol also makes a glass optical 

cable, as does SonicWave. 

To set up our Airport Express we 

connected it to a Mac Pro computer 

using Ethernet, and fired up the Airport 

Setup Assistant (part of Mac OS X — the 

Windows version comes on the included 

installer version disc). of Though our magazine. Apple products 

all but configure themselves, this one is 

an exception, and the manual could use 

a total rewrite. However we did succeed 

in coaxing amount it to of join information…for our Wi-Fi network, free. 

and we then connected it to our Omega 

system with the optical cable. 

Though we have a reference DAC, 

the Counterpoint DA-10A, we opted 

for the DAC that is part of the Eximus 

player (reviewed in this issue). We could 

then compare what we heard to the 

original disc played on the same Eximus 

player, thus taking one variable out of 

Why a free version? 

the chain. We chose five CDs, which 

we played one after the other. We 

then listened to the same selections 

through the Airport Express, 

connected to the Eximus by the 

Monster optical digital cable. 

We added an operational 

shortcut. It’s not 

what you would call 

convenient to get up 

and walk to the room 

where your computer 

is stored in order to 

choose your next music 

selection. However our 

iPod Touch has a free 

application from Apple 

called Remote (shown on the next page). 

It lets you see titles and artwork for the 

music that is on your computer, not on the 

iPod itself, and use the iPod as a remote 

control. The application is intended 

for use with iTunes, but other remotes 

are available free or inexpensively for a 

number of other “juke box” programs: 

for instance, the $4.99 iAmpRemote 

can control the popular WinAmp 

program. 

Heading for the Airport 

We began with our long-standing 

favorite choral recording, Now the Green 

Blade Riseth. It can easily turn to mush, 

or worse, if mishandled, and initially 

we were pleasantly surprised by the 

numerous qualities that moved intact 

through the pipeline. The choral voices 

were well defined, and the flute which 

opens the piece, and which continues in 

a delightful counterpoint, was smooth. 

Even the purely sonic aspects, such as 

the depth and the impression of height, 

were surprisingly good. 

The down side was what we would 

have expected from a CD player less 

competent than the Eximus, namely 

increasing hardness in louder vocal 

passages, accompanied by a somewhat 

rougher texture. That was not a surprise, 

to be sure. And, let us repeat, this is a 

difficult recording to reproduce even 

acceptably. 

We continued with one of our 

For years now, we have been publishing, on our Web site, a free PDF 

The reason is simple. We know you’re looking for information, and 

that is almost certainly why you’ve come to visit our site. And that’s why 

we give away what some competitors consider to be a startlingly large 

We would give it all away for free, if we could still stay in business. 

Recent figures indicate that each issue is getting downloaded as many 

as 100,000 times, and that figure keeps growing. 

Yes, we know, if we had a nickel for each download… 

Truth is, we’re in the business of helping you enjoy music at home 

under the best possible conditions. And movies too. We’ll do what we need 

to do in order to get the information to you. 

Of course, we also want you to read our published editions too. We 

hope that, having read this far, you’ll want to read on.

favorite violin recordings, the Dvorak 

Romantic Pieces with violinist James 

Ehnes (Analekta FL 2 3191). The violin 

is a challenge for any digital system, 

because its sound is so rich in upper 

harmonics, which digital doesn’t always 

handle well. 

The Airport Express didn’t handle it 

as well as the Eximus player itself had, of 

course, but it sinned more by omission 

than by commission. The melody flowed 

with great transparency and fluidity. 

So did the piano accompaniment. It 

sounded very good, and unless you heard 

better you might not realize you were 

missing something. 

But some aspects of the music were 

missing nonetheless. “There’s less of the 

violin’s woody resonance,” said Albert, 

“and you lose some of Ehnes’ subtle 

bow work.” There were several signs of 

diminished resolution, but the liquid 

character of the sound kept it from ever 

being disturbing. Not perfect, but not 

bad. 

We had another voice recording 

on tap: soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian 

singing Pauline Viardot-Garcia’s Haï 

Luli (Analekta AN 2 9903). We have 

toured shows with this one too, and it is 

common for other visitors to ask us for 

the record number. 

Once again we were impressed by the 

sense of flow to the music transmitted by 

the Airport Express. Albert proclaimed 

this the most successful recording yet, 

and he noted that, as in the violin piece, 

the accompanying piano flowed like a 

mountain stream. Bayrakdarian’s voice 

was clear and touching, the words satisfyingly 

audible. 

And yet, despite the fact we were 

using the same converter (that of the 

Eximus) for both sides of the comparison, 

there were notable losses. Louder 

passages did not sound quite right, and 

we were less mesmerized by the illusion 

that the singer was really present before 

us. “It’s a bit like listening to the CD on 

FM radio,” said Toby, “but with a notbad 

tuner.” 

Our fourth recording was of another 

solo instrument, acoustic guitar. We 

played the romantic ballad Rosa from 

the album Seresta Brasileira (Milestone 

MCD-9212-2), by Baden Powell (the 

guitarist, not the founder of the Scout 

as they are for loudspeakers, but the 

Airport Express did well with the song, 

perhaps better than it had with any of 

the previous selections. 

“At the very beginning,” said Albert, 

“you can sense her eagerness to get into 

the song. The emotion of the song comes 

through.” Indeed, even the shortcomings 

were turned into advantages. “There’s 

less resolution, and the lower register is 

less rich,” said Toby, “but that means it’s 

a little less ‘zippy’ too. I got a better sense 

of the sort of song this is, and I enjoyed 

it.” 

A first conclusion: getting music from 

hard disc in this way results in sound that 

is always pleasant and — this is perhaps 

even more important — never annoying. 

Could we make it a little better yet? 

Some variations 

The optical cable we had used might 

movement). This recording is a delight, have a famous (or infamous some would 

at least it is when it is played properly. say) name on it, but it looks like the 

Not just hardware… 

And the Airport Express did well sort of product you’d pick up in a dollar 

with it. The melody came through fine, store. Of course lots of companies make 

What long-time readers tell us they most like about UHF is that it 

and in every way we found the experi- optical cables, but few have the minidoes 

more than review amplifiers and speakers. 

ence pleasant. Of course we did notice TOSLINK connector that will fit the 

In every issue, we discuss ideas. 

the somewhat thicker sound, which Airport Express. We found another, with 

We try to tell you what you need to know, besides what CD player to 

kept us from hearing how terrific this no brand name but a fit and finish that 

buy. 

guitarist truly is. “There’s more string put the Monster to shame (the two are 

It’s one of the features that makes UHF Magazine unlike any other 

noise,” said Toby, “and it stands in for shown below). We added an inexpensive 

audio magazine. 

the missing detail. There is a lot to like, mini-TOSLINK adapter, and we were 

though when we played the CD there good to go. 

was just more of it.” 

We played the Margie Gibson song 

We ended with a song by Margie once more, and the difference between 

Gibson, not from her famous Sheffield the two optical links was evident for all 

recording Say It With Music, but from her three of us. 

self-produced album All We Need to Know There was simply more detail for 

(Gibson Girl Music GG-1). We played A one thing. The sibilance (Margie was 

Song For You, familiar from versions by quite close to the microphone for this 

Karen Carpenter and Leon Russell, but recording) was a little more evident, but 

which Gibson sings particularly well. so were lots of musical cues. There was 

Of course female singers are a lots more to the solo cello that opens the 

challenge for digital playback systems, song, and we could hear Margie’s breathing. 

“There’s much more energy in the 

double bass,” said Toby, and the ‘liquidity’ 

is back too.” The softly-brushed 

snare drum was a delight. 

This was getting pretty good, and 

Gerard thought it was good enough to 

compete with many a CD player with 

audiophile pretensions. 

We’ve already mentioned that some 

computers have the same hybrid output 

jack as the Airport Express. We copied 

Margie Gibson’s song to the hard drive 




of a MacBook Pro laptop computer, and on coffee break. The dynamics were Some conclusions 

plugged the same optical cable into it. anything but natural, and the…aw, the There’s much talk in audiophile 

There was a noticeable improve- heck with it. 

circles of the inadequacy of USB conment, 

though a subtle one. More of the We had one more variation to try. nectivity for high-quality audio. In this 

fine detail in Margie’s voice emerged, We own an Edirol UA-25 interface box, limited set of tests, however, USB beat 

making the song even more expressive, which we use for digital recording with 

and increasing Another the (still imperfect) illu- unique our MacBook feature! 

Pro, and which we also use 

the optical link, even though the optical 

was plugged into a very high-grade 

sion that she was there with us. However with our test microphone for instrument converter. What does it mean? 

the change of source You didn’t know solve how most all the audio tests. magazines It includes do their both reviews: a DAC a and number its of We were intrigued by the huge dif- 

problems. Louder reviewers, passages some remained with doubtful opposite, “reference” an analog-to-digital systems, are assigned converter. reviews ference of between the two TOSLINK 

hard and not quite individual natural. components. No optical cable this time. We plugged cables. The no-name cable is going to 

A preliminary UHF, conclusion on the was other that hand, the maintains Edirol into actual the reference MacBook systems, Pro’s USB on which pick up a name — our own — and we 

the process of all transmitting reviews are music done. over All our connector, reviewers and participate plugged in the each Edirol review. to our The will add it to our Audiophile Store. That 

the air is not quite main transparent. article is based on the P-8 concensus, preamp if with there a pair is one, of Atlas but sometimes Naviga- on said, we suspect that we can find far 

On the Airport divergence. Express the Montor cables. We then played A Song for You better optical cables yet, and we will go 

ster cable had turned And then in a second-best each reviewer gets once to more. write a “Crosstalk,” a personal comhunting 

for them. 

performance. ment, We plugged which may it into even the disagree It with wasn’t the others. quite the equal of the We also know that it’s possible to 

MacBook Pro and There listened is no again. pressure To no to confirm. Eximus playing What you the read original is really CD, what with we get true high-end performance using a 

one’s surprise think. it turned And in that a miserable is what makes a sound UHF that unique. 

was a little more laid back different connection, namely Ethernet: 

performance. The sound was out of and understated. Still, after suffering see our review of the Linn Klimax DS 

focus, with a surprising lack of energy, through several listens with optical in UHF No. 84). Ethernet uses packet 

and the tone was cold and lifeless. Not cables, we were grateful for what the switching, an asynchronous protocol 

good. 

Edirol offered us. 

immune to jitter and other timing 

We wondered, if only fleetingly, what The snare drum had returned from errors. 

the laptop’s own converter would sound break, for one thing. The presence was Having come this far, we plan to 

like it we plugged an analog cable from vastly better. The piano was particularly continue exploring ways to get better 

it directly to our Moon P-8 preamplifier. attractive, and so was Margie Gibson’s sound from music stored on your hard 

We didn’t make it all the way through astonishing voice. Her lip and tongue disc. Some improvements will come 

the song. The accompanying instru- sounds were audible once more, adding from genuine technological advances, 

ments were bunched up, all except for to the feeling that she was there, singing and some from quiet refinements. We’ll 

the snare drum, which appeared to be a song for us. 

let you know what we find. 

What’s not to like? It’s small and affordable, 

and it provides a pretty good rendition 

of your computer’s stored music. 

You may be tempted to herald its arrival 

at home with a confident smile, as in Ta 

daaa…look, honey, no cables. Expecting overwhelming 

praise, you’ll probably have to 

settle for a slightly raised eyebrow. Or, filled 

with inner pride at an affordable upgrade, 

you may casually declare, “Guess what, 

honey…no new mortgage.” Two eyebrows. 

However it turns out, let your desktop or 

laptop sing with its new voice for a few days, 

and you’ll love the convenience so much that 

the entire family may soon vote to bring 

home its twin. 


It occurs to me that judging the potential 

of music-from-computer is like judging the 

potential of the Compact Disc by listening 


CROSSTALK 

to the Philips CDP-101 of 1982. Though 

both are digital sources, the CD is a mature 

technology, and computer audio has only just 

taken its first steps. 

Notwithstanding the uneven results we 

heard with the Airport Express, I think it 

has huge potential, given its affordable price. 

Not many people will add a $2000 laptop to 

an audio system, but the little Apple box costs 

next to nothing. With a better link, my guess 

is that it will deliver on its promise. 

There’s something magical about having 

all your music just a click or two away. This 

is, in any case, the future. 

—Gerard Rejskind 

Hi-fi was the cool thing to tinker with 

in the Fifties, today it’s computers, wireless 

networks, digital music libraries. On the 

evidence of these sessions, even with a good 

modern DAC, you can’t pop your laptop into 

your system where your CD player was and 

expect even the same quality of sound. 

Pretty good digital sound, yes, especially 

if you use an optical cable instead of 

a wireless link. The Airport Express gave a 

good-sized image on Green Blade. The optical 

connection via the Monster cable let me 

hear that and also the marvellous lift in spirit 

at the final crescendo, despite a coloration I 

would call “golden afternoon.” The no-name 

optical lost the gold and had more detail, 

like the breath sounds on A Song for You. 

An analog cable from the laptop’s earphone 

jack — oh, I was getting tired of this. The 

session began to seem long, and I thought 

fondly of the reference player. 

A computer source may be a worthwhile 

step on the way to a great system, but none 

of what I heard this time would be a goal I 

would aim for. 

—Toby Earp

INTERCONNECTS 

ATLAS NAVIGATOR 

Oxygen-free continuous 

cast (OCC) cable: each 

strand is a single copper 

crystal. Two internal 

conductors, plus double 

shielding. The double shielding is copper mylar plus close-lapped 

99.997% pure OCC copper multi-stranded screen providing 100% 

RFI protection. This premium “All-Cu” version (shown here) uses 

solid copper connectors that are also continuous cast. The copper 

is then silver-plated and double-shielded. We use two in our 

reference systems. 

ORDER: ANA-1 All-Cu, 1m, $405, ANA-2 All-Cu, 2m, $495 

ORDER: ANAB-1 All-Cu balanced, single crystal XLR, 1m, $675 

ATLAS QUESTOR 

This could be the world’s lowest-cost 

interconnect with single-crystal copper. It has 

the same connectors as the Equator (below), 

and we thought it sounded like a much more 

expensive cable. 

ORDER: AQ-1, 1 m pair Atlas Questor, $140 

ORDER: AQ-2, 2 m pair Atlas Questor, $180 

ATLAS EQUATOR 

Perhaps the best $150 

interconnect cable you could 

buy. Only it costs just $90. And 

yes, that’s in Canadian funds. 

Other lengths on order. 

ORDER: AE-1, 1 m pair Atlas Equator, $90 

ORDER: AE-2, 2 m pair Atlas Equator, $125 

ATLAS QUADSTAR 

Terrific in our blind test. 

With Eichmann Bullet plugs, 

or balanced with Neutrik 

XLR's. Silver solder included with kit. 

ORDER: AQS-1 pair Quadstar kit, 1m $124.95 

ORDER: AQS-1A pair Quadstar assembled, 1m $199.95 

ORDER: AQS-X pair Quadstar balanced kit, 1m $95.95 

ORDER: AQS-XA pair Quadstar balanced, assembled, 1m $169.95 

PRISMAL DUAL INTERCONNECT 

This Swiss-made cable has especially solid connectors. Teflon 

dielectric. oxygen-free copper Toss your “free” interconnects! 

ORDER: PD-1, 1 meter pair Prisma Dual Interconnect, $34.95 

MAVROS INTERCONNECTS 

Truly terrific, a pair of these connects our phono preamp to the 

preamp of our Omega system 

ORDER: AMI-1, 1 m Mavros interconnect pair, $1195 

ORDER: AMI-2, 2 m Mavros interconnect pair, $1895 

TWO CABLES INTO ONE JACK 

Need to feed two preamps into two 

amps? This solid Y-adapter (two 

jacks into one phono plug) is gold 

over brass, with Teflon dielectric. 

ORDER: FYA, one pair Y adapters, $20 

THE AUDIOPHILE STORE 55 

SPEAKER CABLES 

ATLAS MAVROS CABLES 

We’ve adopted them for our Alpha system, which sounds better 

than ever before. This is a four-wire monocrystal cable with 

porous Teflon dielectric. We are not recommending them with 

standard bananas or spaces, but we offer them either with ETI 

Bayonet Bananas, at no extra cost, or WBT nextgen.. 

ORDER: AMBCu-3, 3 m pair, Bayonet bananas, $2150 

ORDER: AMBCu-5, 5 m pair, Bayonet bananas, $3850 

ORDER: AMSCu-3, 3 m pair, WBT nextgen bananas, $2390 

ORDER: AMSCu-5, 5 m pair, WBT nextgen bananas, $4090 

ATLAS HYPER SPEAKER CABLES 

A big winner in one of UHF’s blind tests of speaker cables is 

Hyper 2, an oxygen free stranded wire in Teflon dielectric.. Plus 

connectors (we recommend Eichmann Bayonet Bananas, $99.95/ 

set, two sets needed for AH2, three for biwire). 

ORDER: AH2, Hyper 2 cable, $29.95/metre 

ORDER: AHB, Hyper Biwire cable, $49.95/metre 

ATLAS ICHOR SPEAKER CABLE 

Continuous-cast single-crystal cable, ready for biwiring. It costs 

just $235 per meter of double cable (a 2 m pair has 4 meters of 

wire). We suggest adding the Eichmann Bayonet bananas, $99.95 

per set of 4, or Furutech connectors, $70 a set of 4.. 

SINGLE CRYSTAL JUMPERS 

Not biwiring? Dump the free jumpers 

that came with your speakers. Atlas 

jumpers are made from single-crystal 

copper, gold-plated spades. 

ORDER: ACJ, four single crystal 

jumpers, $99.95 

DIGITAL CABLES 

ATLAS COMPASS DIGITAL 

Excellent performance at an affordable price. Single crystal pure 

copper. The 1.5m version sounds way better than a 1m. 

ORDER: ACD-1.5 digital cable, 1.5m, $160 

ATLAS OPUS DIGITAL 

We dumped our reference cable for this one! And to be at its very 

best, it has to be this length. 

ORDER: AOD-1.5 digital cable, 1.5m, $399 

TOSLINK OPTICAL DIGITAL 

The best we’ve found yet, 

though we’re still looking. 

Add the mini-TOSLINK 

adapter for Airport Express or computers with hybrid jacks. 

ORDER: TD-1 TOSLINK cable, 1m length $22.95 

ORDER: TMT mini-TOSLINK adapter, $3.95 

www.uhfmag.com/AudiophileStore.html 

CONNECTOR TREATMENT 

DeOxit (formerly ProGold) 

cleans connections and 

promotes conductivity. Small 

wipes for cleaning accessible 

contacts, or a squirt bottle for connections you can’t reach. 

ORDER: PGW box 25 DeOxit wipes, $35 

ORDER: PGS, can DeOxit fluid, $35 

ORDER: PGB, both when ordered at the same time, $56 

SILVER SOLDER 

This is a lovely solder, from the 

company that makes Enacom 

line filters (which we also like). 

Wakø-Tech solder contains 4% 

silver, no lead. 

ORDER: SR-4N, 100 g solder 

roll, $59.95 

CONNECTORS 

EICHMANN BAYONET BANANAS 

The Eichmann Bayonet 

Banana uses a minimum of 

metal, and tellurium copper 

at that, but clicks tightly into 

any binding post with spring 

action. For soldering or crimping, or both. 

ORDER: EBB kit 4 bayonet bananas, $99.95 

EICHMANN SPADES 

Ready to solder, in 

gold-plated copper, or 

pure silver. Two sizes, 

plus extra narrow for 

barrier strips (McIntosh, 

Vandersteen, etc.). Price for sets of four. 

A. ORDER: EXB, set of 4, barrier strips, (now discontinued) 

B. ORDER: EXQ, set of 4, 1/4" (6.3 mm), $32 

C. ORDER: EXQA, set of 4, 1/4" (6.3 mm), silver, $55 

D. ORDER: EXF, set of 4, 5/16" (8 mm), $44 

E. ORDER: EXF,A set of 4, 5/16" (8 mm), silver, $67 

EICHMANN BULLET PLUGS 

The first phono plug to maintain 

the impedance of the cable by using 

metal only as an extension of the 

wire. Hollow tube centre pin, tiny 

spring for ground. Two contacts for 

soldering, two-screw strain relief. 

Gold over copper. Got silver cable? Get the unique Silver Bullets! 

ORDER: EBP kit 4 Bullet Plugs, $77.95 

ORDER: EBPA kit 4 Silver Bullets, $154.95 

EICHMANN CABLE PODS 

Minimum metal, gold over tellurium 

copper. Unique clamp system: the back 

button turns but the clamp doesn’t. 

Solder to it, or plug an Eichmann 

banana into it, even from inside! 

ORDER: ECP, set of four posts, $119.95 

SEE EVEN MORE PRODUCTS 

IN OUR ON-LINE CATALOG 

www,uhfmag.com/AudiophileStore.html

56 THE AUDIOPHILE STORE 

MORE CONNECTORS 

For crimping connections to certain connectors from WBT or 

Furutech, we recommend the gold crimping sleeves from WBT, 

and the special crimping tool. 

Buy the tool at the same time as appropriate WBT or Furutech 

connectors, and we’ll buy it back at the price you paid when 

you’re through. 

ORDER: WBT-0403 crimping tool (refundable), $125. 

The sleeves are shown here, actual size. 

WBT-0431 0.75 mm sleeve $0.50 

WBT-0432 1 mm sleeve $0.50 

WBT-0433 1.5 mm sleeve $0.50 

WBT-0434 2.5 mm sleeve $0.50 



WBT-0437 10 mm sleeve $0.85 

WBT-0438 15 mm sleeve $0.95 

WBT NEXTGEN CONNECTORS 

WBT makes banana plugs and spades for speaker cables, all of 

which lock tightly into any post. All use crimping technology. 

These nextgen connectors are far superior to previous versions 

ORDER: WBT-0610 Kit 4 angled nextgen bananas, $130 

ORDER: WBT-0610Ag Kit 4 nextgen silver bananas, $290 

ORDER: WBT-0681 Kit 4 nextgen spades, $130 

ORDER: WBT-0681Ag Kit 4 nextgen silver spades, $220 

The high-tech minimum metal “nextgen” phono plugs. Easy to 

solder, with locking collar. Silver version available. 

ORDER: WBT-0110, kit 4 nextgen copper plugs, $170 

ORDER: WBT-0110Ag, kit 4 nextgen silver plugs, $280 

FURUTECH CONNECTORS 

Rhodium-plated banana tightens under pressure. Installs like 

WBT banana. The spade installs the same way too.. 

ORDER: FTB-R, set of four bananas, $70 

ORDER: FTS-R, set of four spades, $70 

ANALOG PRODUCTS MORE ANALOG… 

LONDON REFERENCE 

Yes we can supply the awesome London 

Reference phono cartridge that we have 

adopted for ourselves. Other models on 

special order. this unique cartridge has 

a line contact stylus, and an output of 

5 mV…right for an MM preamp. 

ORDER: LRC cartridge, $4695 

GOLDRING ELITE 

If you have limited funds and you 

want an MC cartridge with a 

line contact stylus, this is a great 

choice. It's a detuned version of the 

very expensive (but discontinued) 

Excel we still own. 

ORDER: GEC cartridge, $745 

MOON PHONO PREAMPS 

Simaudio has done it: 

come up with a worldclass 

phono preamp that 

does magic. The LP5.3 is 

one of the best available. 

Adjustable MM/MC. 

ORDER: Moon LP5.3, 

silver (black available on 

special order), $1599. 

Special price on interconnect, one with an LP5.3 order. 

ORDER: ANA-1 Navigator All-Cu, 1m, $405, for $260 

ORDER: ANA-2 Navigator All-Cu, 2m, $495 for $350 

ORDER: ANAB-1 Navigator balanced, 1m, $675, for $475 

ORDER: AMI-1, 1 meter Mavros, $1195, for $895 

ORDER: AMI-2, 2 meter Mavros, $1895, for $1495 

Even more 

astonishing: the LP3 

includes much of the 

LP5.3 technology, still 

offers MM/MC, but 

costs only a fraction. 

Lively and musical, it’s 

difficult to match. 

ORDER: Moon LP3, 

$599 

Special price on interconnect, one with an LP3 order. 

ORDER AQS-1, Kit ,1 m Quadstar, $124.95, for $59.95 

ORDER AQS-1A, Fully assembled Quadstar, $199.95, for $99.95 

NOTE: The Moon preamps are shipped set for moving magnet 

setting. We’ll reset it to your specification so you won’t have to. 

LP RECORD CLEANER 

Concentrated cleaner for LP vacuum cleaning machines. 

Much safer than some formulas we’ve seen! Half litre, mix with 

demineralized or distilled water to make 4 litres. 

ORDER: LPC, $19.95 

PRICES CAN CHANGE AFTER WE GO TO PRESS. 

WE WILL ALWAYS GIVE YOU THE BEST PRICE 


EXSTATIC RECORD BRUSH 

The Super 

eXstatic. Includes 

a hard velvet pad 

to get into the 

grooves, two sets 

of carbon fibre 

tufts. We use it every time! 

ORDER: GSX record brush, $36 

J. A. MICHELL RECORD CLAMP 

Clamp your LP to the turntable 

platter. We use the J. A. 

Michell clamp, machined 

from nearly weightless 

aluminum. Drop it on, 

press down, tighten 

the knob. 

ORDER: MRC Michell 

record clamp, $75 

ORDER: MRC-R clamp for 

Rega and short spindles, $85 

ATLAS QUADSTAR PHONO BOX 

Got a tone arm with a 5-pin DIN 

plug. Substitute this Quadstar cable 

and box, and add the interconnect 

of your choice. straight DIN (shown) 

needs 7 cm clearance. If you have 

less, get the version with an angled 

DIN plug. 

ORDER: AQPS, Quadstar phono 

box, $248 

ORDER: AQPA, Quadstar phono box, angled DIN, $248 

TITAN STYLUS LUBRICANT 

Amazing, but true: dabbing 

a bit of this stuff on your 

stylus every 2 or 3 LPs makes 

it glide through the groove 

instead of scraping. Fine artist’s brush not included, but readily 

available in many stores. 

ORDER: TSO-1 Titan stylus oil, $39.95 

ZEROSTAT ANTISTATIC PISTOL 

A classic 

adjunct to 

the brush is 

the Zerostat 

anti-static 

gun. Squeeze 

the trigger 

and release: it 

ionizes the air, 

which becomes 

conductive and drains off the static charge. By the way, it works 

for a lot more than LP’s. No batteries needed. 

ORDER: Z-1 Zerostat antistatic pistol, $94..95 

LP SLEEVES 

Keep your records clean and 

scratch free. Replace dirty, 

torn or missing inner sleeves 

with soft-plastic-in-paper Nitty 

Gritty sleeves. 

ORDER: PDI, package of 30 

sleeves, $30 

IF WE DON’T LIKE IT YOU WON’T SEE IT HERE

VINYL ESSENTIALS TEST LP 

This precision-made German test record lets you check out channel 

identification, correct phase, crosstalk, the tracking ability of your 

cartridge (it’s a tougher test than the old Shure disc was, and the 

resonance of your tone arm and cartridge. When we need to test a 

turntable, this is the one we reach for. 

ORDER: LP 003, Image Hifi Test LP, $48.95 

TURNTABLE BELT TREATMENT 

What this is not 

is a sticky goo for 

belts on their last 

legs. Rubber Renue 

removes oxidation 

from rubber belts, 

giving them a new 

lease on life. But what astonished us is what it does to even a brand 

new belt. Wipe down your belt every 3 months, and make analog 

sound better than ever. 

ORDER: RRU-100 drive belt 

treatment, $14.95 

SUPER ANTENNA 

MkIII 

Ours has no stupid rotary switch to muck 

things up, and with a 1.8m low-loss 75 

ohm cable and gold-plated push-on F 

connector, it has low internal loss. Covers 

analog and digital TV bands as well as FM. 

ORDER: FM-S Super Antenna, MkIII, $55 

CLEANER POWER 

AUDIOPRISM POWER FILTER 

The Power 

Foundation III is 

a bargain, and 

does a wonderful 

job of cleaning 

the gunk from 

the power line. 

Requires 20A power cord (it has a different IEC connector. We 

recommend the UHF14, shown at right. 

ORDER: APF, Audioprism power line filter, $849 

ORDER: UHF14-20-1.5 cable, $99..95 

ENACOM LINE FILTER 

Economy price, but astonishingly effective, we wouldn’t run our 

system with less. It actually shorts out the hash on the power line. 

ORDER: EAC Enacom line filter, $105 


MORE POWER TO YOU 

Better access to 

electrical power. 

Change your 77-cent 

duplex outlets for 

these Hubbell hospital 

grade outlets. Insert a 

plug and it just snaps 

in. A tighter internal 

connection as well. 

The cheapest improvement you can make to your system. 

ORDER: AC-DA Hubbell duplex outlet, $23.95 

ORDER: AC-D20 20A duplex, red color, $28.95 

UHF 14 POWER CORD 

No budget for a premium 

cable? Make your own! 

We use several ourselves. 

Foil-shielded, to 

avoid picking up or 

transmitting noise. 

Assembled or as a kit. 

With Hubbell 8215 

hospital grade plug and 

Schurter 15 A IEC 320 

connector. For digital 

players, preamplifiers, 

tuners, and even medium-powered amplifiers. 

ORDER: UHF14-1.5K, 14 gauge power cable kit, $74.95 

ORDER: UHF14-1.5 14 cable, assembled, $99..95 

Need it longer? Add $20 per metre extra 

20-AMPERE POWER CORD 

This is the one with the big IEC connectors whose contacts are 

rotated the other 

way. It’s for certain 

large power amps 

and the Audioprism 

Power Foundation 

filter. Marinco 20 

amp hospital-grade 

wall plug, which 

fits only a 20 amp 

wall outlet. Available with a 15 amp Hubbell wall plug instead. 

ORDER: UHF14-20-1.5 cable, assembled, $99.95 

Need it longer? Add $20 per metre extra 

UHF/FURUTECH POWER CORD 

We were so pleased with the performance of our UHF14 cable that 

we wanted to hear it with 

the upscale Furutech 

connectors. Wow! Pure 

copper IEC connector and 

copper/gold wall plug. 

ORDER: UHF14F-1.5K, 

14 gauge power cable kit, 

149.95 

ORDER: UHF14F-1.5 14 

cable, assembled, 174.95 

GUTWIRE G CLEF POWER CABLE 

Multiple shielding, including external electrostatic shield connected 

to a clip. Used by UHF. Length 1.7 m, longer cords on order. G Clef 


2 

STINGRAY POWER BAR 

Most power bars knock 

voltage to your equipment 

way down, and generate more 

noise than a kindergarten 

class. The Gutwire Stingray 

Squared doesn’t. 12 gauge 

double-shielded cable, 

Hubbell hospital grade 

connectors at both ends. Indispensable! 

ORDER: GSR-2 Stingray Squared power bar, $285 

has 195 conductors, 3 shields providing 98% shielding. Available 

SEE EVEN MORE PRODUCTS 

optionally with 20A IEC plug (for amplifiers requiring special plug) 

IN OUR ON-LINE CATALOG 

ORDER: GGC G Clef, Square 1.7m, $385 

www,uhfmag.com/AudiophileStore.html 

INSTANT CIRCUIT CHECKER 

Plug it into an AC outlet, and the three lights can 

indicate a missing ground, incorrect polarity, switched 

wires — five problems in all. The first thing we did 

after getting ours was phone the electrician. 

ORDER: ACA-1, Instant Circuit Checker, $21 

IEC ON YOUR DVD PLAYER 

Why do big name DVD players come with those 

tiny two-prong plugs for their 

cords? A good shielded power 

cable will do wonders! 

ORDER: DVD-A, GutWire 

adapter, $39 

HOSPITAL GRADE CONNECTION 

When we put a quality 

AC plug on our kettle, 

boiling time dropped by 

90 seconds! The best AC 

plug we have ever seen is 

the Hubbell 8215 hospital 

grade plug. It connects to wires under high pressure, and it 

should last forever. 

ORDER: AC-P2 Hubbell cord plug, $25.95 

Amazingly good at a 

much lower price are 

these two cord plugs 

from Eagle. Male and 

female versions. 

ORDER: AC-P1 Eagle male cord plug, $5.95 

ORDER: AC-PF Eagle female cord plug, $5.95 

Making your own power cords for your equipment? You’ll need 

the hard-to-get IEC 320 connector to fit the gear. 

ORDER: AC-P3 10 ampere IEC 320 plug, $9.95 

ORDER: AC-P4 15 ampere Schurter IEC 320 plug, $18.95 

BETTER DIGITAL 

IMPROVED CD WITH FINYL 

The maker of Finyl claims it reduces surface 

reflections and provides a higher contrast image for 

the laser cell of your player. Use it just once. We get a 

lot of repeat orders on it. One kit can treat over 200 

discs. Or order the refill. 

ORDER: F-1 Finyl kit, $40.00 

ORDER: F-1R Finyl refill, $35.00 

CLEAN YOUR PLAYER 

After a few months, 

your player may have 

more trouble reading 

your CD’s. Unlike 

some commonlyavailable 

discs, the 

Milty CD lens cleaner 

is non-abrasive, so 

we use it and rest 

easy. Can be used wet 

or dry. 

ORDER: 2021 Milty CD lens cleaner, $35


SUPPORT SYSTEMS AUDIO-TAK 

TENDERFEET 

Machined cones are wonderful 

things to put under speakers or 

other audio equipment. They anchor 

it mechanically and decouple it 

acoustically at the same time. 

Tenderfeet come in various versions: 

tall (as shown) or flattened, in either 

anodized silver or black. Tall Tenderfeet have threaded holes for 

a machine screw, or for the optional hanger bolt, which lets you 

screw it into wood. If you have a fragile hardwood floor, add the 

optional Tendercup (shown above) to protect it. 

ORDER: TFG, tall silver Tenderfoot, $15 

ORDER: TFGN, tall black Tenderfoot, $16.50 

ORDER: TFP, flat silver Tenderfoot, $10 

ORDER: TCP, silver Tendercup, $10 

ORDER: THB, hanger bolt for Tenderfeet, each $0.80 

Do you prefer spikes for your speakers? Target spikes and sockets 

mount in wood. Available with or without tools. 

ORDER: S4W kit, 8 spikes, sockets and tools, $39 

ORDER: S4WS kit, 8 spikes and sockets, $30 

ISOBEARINGS ARE BACK!!! 

Long discontinued, this product from Audioprism 

is back. Of the many anti-vibration products 

we have tried, this is the one that is by far most 

effective for both vertical 

and lateral vibration 

(unfortunately some of 

the most famous ones 

don’t work at all). Each 

Isobearing consists of a 

small ball and a cup to receive it. 

There are two models, each with a weight rating. The rating 

indicates the maximum weight each Isobearing should bear, but 

for optimum performance it should bear at least half of its rated 

weight. Use three or more Isobearings, placed according to the 

weight of the different sections of the amplifier, digital player, 

etc. We now use Isobearings on our DVD player, and we’re glad 

they’re back. 

ORDER: ISO-M, single Isobearing, 2 kg/4.4 lbs $25 each 

ORDER: ISO-G, single Isobearing, 7.5 kg/17 lbs $40 each 

THE SUPERSPIKE 

This is unique: a sealed unit containing a spike and a cup to 

receive it. It won’t scratch even hardwood floors. For speakers 

or equipment stands, on bare floors only. Four sizes of threaded 

shanks are available to fit speakers or stands. 

ORDER: SSKQ, 4 Superspikes, 1/4” shank, $75 

ORDER: SSKT, 4 Superspikes, 5/16” shank, $75 

ORDER: SSKS, 4 Superspikes, 6 mm shank, $75 

ORDER: SSKH, 4 Superspikes, 8 mm shank, $75 

WHAT SIZE SUPERSPIKE? 

A good ruler will let you figure it out. The stated size is the outer 

diameter of the threaded shank. Then count the threads: 

1/4” shank: 20 threads/inch 

5/16” shank: 18 threads/inch 

M6 (6mm) shank: 10 threads/cm 

M8 (8mm) shank: 8 threads/cm 

OTHER 

SUPERSPIKES 

We have also have a Superspike foot 

(at right) that replaces those useless 

feet on CD players, amps, etc., using 

the same screws to fasten them. And 

there’s a stick-on version (not shown) for other components. 

ORDER: SSKF, 4 Superspike replacement feet, $80 

ORDER: SSKA, 3 stick-on Superspike feet, $50 

SPEAKER STANDS 

Your “bookshelf” speaker shouldn’t be on a bookshelf. We have the 

four-pillar Target stands, in 24” or 28” height, ready to be filled 

with sand. 

ORDER: MR-24, one pair 24” Target stands, $325 

ORDER: MR-28, one pair 24” Target stands, $349 


It’s blue, and it’s a sort of modelling clay 

that never dries. Anchor speakers to 

stands, cones to speakers, and damp out 

vibration. Leaflet with many suggested 

uses. 

ORDER: AT-2, Audio-Tak pack, $10 

AN ON-THE-WALL IDEA 

Need to fasten a speaker 

securely to the wall? Nothing 

beats the Smarter Speaker 

Support for ease of installation 

or for sheer strength. And 

it holds the speaker off the 

wall, so it can be used even 

with rear-ported speakers. 

Easily adjustable with two 

hands, not three, tested to an 

incredible 23 kg! Glass-filled 

polycarbonate is unbreakable. 

Screws and anchors included, 

available in two colors. 

ORDER: SSPS, pair of black speaker supports, $29.95 

ORDER: SSPS-W, pair of white speaker supports, $29.95 

TARGET WALL STANDS 

We keep our turntables on these, secure from floor vibrations, 

wonderful for CD players, amplifiers, and all components. 

ORDER: VW-1 Target single-shelf wall stand, $225 

ORDER: VW-2 Target dual-shelf wall stand, $280 

AUDIOPHILE RECORDINGS, RECOMMENDED BY UHF STAFF 

REFERENCE RECORDINGS 

Tutti (HDCD, SACD) 

A terrific symphonic sampler from Reference, with dazzling music 

by Bruckner, Stravinsky, etc. Also available as RR’s very first SACD 

release. Wow! 

30th Anniversary Sampler (HDCD) 

A collection of excerpts from recent Reference albums. 

Yerba Buena Bounce (HDCD) 

The (terrific) Hot Club of San Francisco is back, with great music, 

well-played, wonderfully recorded by “Profesor” Johnson! 

Crown Imperial (HDCD) 

The second chapter of the famous Pomp&Pipes saga, with the Dallas 

Wind Symphony, in a set of perfectly recorded pieces in glorious 

HDCD. 

Organ Odyssey (HDCD) 

Mary Preston, the organist of Crown Imperial, in a dazzling program 

of Widor, Mendelssohn, Vierne, and others. 

Serenade (HDCD) 

A collection of choral pieces, wonderfully sung by the Turtle Creek 

Chorale, with perhaps the best sound Keith has given them yet. 

Nojima Plays Liszt (HDCD) 

The famous 1986 recording of Minoru Nojima playing the B Minor 

Sonata and other works is back…in HDCD this time! 

Nojima Plays Ravel (HDCD) 

Nojima’s other hit disc, now also in glorious HDCD. 

Garden of Dreams (HDCD) 

David Maslanka’s evocative music for wind band. 

Beachcomber (HDCD) � 

Fennell and the Dallas Wind Ensemble.Includes Tico Tico, A Chorus 

line, and a version of 76 Trombones you’ll remember for a long time. 

Holst (LP) � 

From the composer of The Planets, 3 suites for wind band, plus the 

Hammersmith Prelude and Scherzo. 

Trittico (HDCD) � 

Large helping of wind band leader Frederick Fennell doing powerhouse 

music by Grieg, Albeniz, Nelhybel, etc. Complex and energetic. 

Fennell Favorites (LP) 

The Dallas Wind Symphony: Bach, Brahms, Prokofiev and more. 

Fireworks on this rare Reference LP.

Jazz Hat (HDCD) � 

Pianist Michael Garson, in re-releases of some of his famous recordings 

Blazing Redheads (LP) 

Not all redheads, this all-female salsa-flavored big band adds a lot of 

red pepper to its music. 

Felix Hell (HDCD) 

The young organ prodigy turns in mature versions of organ music of 

Liszt, Vierne, Rheinberger and Guilmant. Huge bottom end! 

American Requiem (HDCD) 

Richard Danielpour's awesome Requiem mass is all about war, and 

about the hope for peace too, with a dedication tied to 9/11. 

World Keys (HDCD) 

Astonishing young pianist Joel Fan amazes with music from all the 

world, including that of Prokofiev and Liszt 

Ikon of Eros (HDCD) 

Huge suite for orchestra and chorus, by John Tavener. Inspired by 

Greek Orthodox tradition. Overwhelming HDCD sound. 

PLUS THESE HDCD RECORDINGS: 

Pomp&Pipes (HDCD) � 

Requiem (HDCD) � 

From the Age of Swing (HDCD) � 

Swing is Here (HDCD) � 

Copland Symphony No. 3 (HDCD) � 

Medinah Sessions, two CDs for one (HDCD) 

Ports of Call (HDCD) 

Bruckner Symphony No. 9 (HDCD) � 

Ein Heldenleben (HDCD) � 

SHEFFIELD 

Say It With Music (CD) � 

Margie Gibson sings Irving Berlin in what may be one the greatest 

jazz vocal recordings of all time. And she’s right in your living room! 

Growing Up in Hollywood Town (XRCD) � 

The Amanda Albums (CD) � 

How did they do it? The two complete McBroom recordings, Growing 

Up in Hollywood Town and West of Oz, on one terrific CD 

I’ve Got the Music in Me (CD) � 

This was originally Sheffield’s LAB-2 release. If you haven’t heard 

Thelma Houston belt out a song, you’re in for a treat. 

Kodo (CD) 

A Japanese neo-folk group plays astonishing music, including a 400pound 

drum that can take out a woofer. Or a wall! 

Harry James & His Big Band (Gold CD) 

Harry said he would have done this recording for free, because he 

sounded better than ever. 

The King James Version (CD) 

Harry James and his big band, live from the chapel! 

Drum/Track Record (XRCD2) � 

OPUS 3 

Test Records 1, 2 & 3 (SACD) 

A blast from the past! Here are 14 cuts from the samplers that 

launched Opus 3. They sound better than ever, too 

Swingcerely Yours (SACD) 

An SACD re-re-release of tracks from superb vibraphonist Lars 


Erstrand, from 1983 to 1995. Long overdue! 

Unique Classical Guitar Collection (SACD) 

An SACD, mastered from analog, of some of Opus 3’s long-discontinued 

classical guitar LPs. Terrific! 

Beyond (SACD) 

The second recording by the versatile guitarist Peder af Ugglas (who 

also did Autumn Shuffle, below), who plays every instrument there is: 

jazz, rock, blues, country. From Sweden??? 

Autumn Shuffle (SACD/LP) 

Ugglas plays a number of different guitars, and borrows from jazz, 

Blues, and (yes!) country. Piano, organ, trombone, bowed saw, etc. 

Showcase 2005 (SACD) 

The latest Opus 3 sampler, with Eric Bibb, Mattias Wager, the Erik 

Westberg Vocal Ensemble and lots more, in glorious SACD. 

Organ Treasures (SACD) � 

All those showpieces for big organ you remember hearing through 

huge systems…only with all of the power and the clarity of Super 

Audio. 4.1 channels, plus 2-channel CD. 

Just Like Love (SACD/LP) � 

The newest from Eric Bibb, less oriented to Gospel and more to Blues. 

Bibb’s group, Needed Time, is not here, but he’s surrounded by half a 

dozen fine musicians. A nice recording. Hybrid SACD. 

Comes Love (HDCD) � 

Another disc by the terrific Swedish Jazz Kings, led by saxophonist 

Tomas Ornberg, proving again Sweden understands jazz. The sound 

is luminous, sometimes dazzling. 

It’s Right Here For You (HDCD) � 

Is there, anywhere, a better swing band than The Swedish Jazz Kings 

(formerly Tömas Ormberg’s Blue Five)? Closer to Kansas City than to 

Stockholm, they are captivating. 

Test CD 4 (SACD) 

A sampler of Opus 3 performers, clearer than you’ve ever heard them 

before. Hybrid disc. 

Test CD 5 (HDCD) � 

Another of Opus 3’s wonderful samplers, including blues, jazz, and 

classical music. A number of fine artists, captured with the usual pure 

Blumlein stereo setup. A treat. 

Showcase (SACD/LP) � 

Available as a hybrid SACD/CD disc, or a gorgeously-cut LP, with 

selections from Opus 3 releases. 

Good Stuff (DOUBLE 45 LP/HDCD/SACD) � 

As soothing as a summer breeze, this disc features singer Eric Bibb 

(son of Leon), singing and playing guitar along with his group. Subtle 

weaving of instrumentation, vivid sound. 

Spirit and the Blues (DOUBLE 45 LP/CD/SACD) � 

Like his father, Leon Bibb, Eric Bibb understands the blues. He and 

the other musicians, all playing strictly acoustic instruments, have 

done a fine recording, and Opus 3 has made it sound exceptional. 

Tiny Island (SACD) 

If you like Eric Bibb and his group Good Stuff as much as we do, pick 

this one up. 

20th Anniversary Celebration Disc (HDCD) � 

A great sampler from Opus 3. Includes some exceptional fine pieces, 

jazz, folk and classical. The sound pickup is as good as it gets, and the 


HDCD transfer is luminous. 

Levande (CD) � 

The full recording from which “Tiden Bara Går” on Test Record No.1 

is taken. Believe it or not, this great song isn’t even the best on the 

album! A fine singer, doing folklike material…and who cares about 

understanding the words? 

Concertos for Double Bass (CD/SACD) � 

This album of modern and 19th Century music is a favorite for its 

deep, sensuous sound. And the music is worth discovering. It is sensuous 

and lyrical, a delight in every way. 

Across the Bridge of Hope (SACD) 

An astonishing choral recording by the Erik Westberg Ensemble, 

famous for its Musica Sacra choral recording. 

Musica Sacra (HDCD/SACD) � 

Test Record No.4 (LP) � 

PROPRIUS 

Antiphone Blues (CD) � 

This famous disc offers an unusual mix: sax and organ! The disc 

includes Ellington, Negro spirituals, and some folk music. Electrifying 

performance, and the recording quality is unequalled. 

Antiphone Blues (SACD/HDCD) � 

This is the Super Audio version, with a Red Book layer that is HDCDencoded. 

The best of both worlds! 

Now the Green Blade Riseth (CD/SACD) � 

Religious music done a new way: organ, chorus and modern orchestra. 

Stunning music, arranged and performed by masters, and the 

effect is joyous. The sound is clear, and the sheer depth is unequalled 

on CD. The new SACD version is the very best SACD we have yet heard! 

Jazz at the Pawnshop Set (SACD) � 

The entire set oin glorious SACD, plus a video DVD with interviews 

with the set’s creators. 

Jazz at the Pawnshop 2 (CD/SACD) � 

From the original master, another disc of jazz from this Swedish pub, 

with its lifelike 3-D sound. Now a classic in its own right. 

Good Vibes (CD) 

The third volume of Jazz at the Pawnshop. And just as good! 

Cantate Domino (CD/SACD) � 

This choral record is a classic of audiophile records. The title selection 

is stunningly beautiful. The second half is Christmas music, and 

includes the most stunning version of O Holy Night we’ve ever heard. 

Sketches of Standard (CD) 

ANALEKTA 

Violonchello Español (CD) � 

I Musici de Montréal comes to Analekta, with a stunning album of 

Spanish and Spanish-like pieces for cello and orchestra. 

Vivace (CD) � 

Classical or rock? Claude Lamothe plays two cellos at the same time 

in an amazing recording of modern compositions. 

Pauline Viardot-Garcia (CD) � 

Soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian steps into the role of 19th Century 

singer and composer Pauline Viardot so convincingly that listening 

to her is like going back in time. One of the best classical recordings 

of all time!


Romantic Pieces (CD) � 

How does James Ehnes manage to get such a sweet sound from his 

Stradivarius? Czech pieces from Smetana, Dvorak and Janacek. The 

playing is as glorious as the tone, and the sound is sumptuous. 

Cantabile (CD) 

The Duo Similia is made up of striking blonde twins, who play flute 

and guitar. Familiar airs from Mozart, Fauré, Elgar, Ravel, lots more. 

Fine listening. 

Nota del Sol (CD) � 

The Labrie twins are back, with a delightful recording of flute and 

guitar music by Piazzola, Pujol and Machado. Joyous works, wonderfully 

played and recorded 

Fantasia (CD) 

A third, gorgeous, recording by the twins, on flute and guitar. 

Fritz Kreisler (CD) 

Possibly the best recording of Kreisler’s delightful violin music: James 

Ehnes and his Strad bring a new magic to this fine disc. 

French Showpieces (CD) � 

Awesome violinist James Ehnes, with the Quebec City Symph. takes on 

Saint-Saëns, Berlioz, Chausson, Massenet, and more. 

Handel (CD) � 

Superb soprano Karina Gauvin is joined by the Toronto chamber 

ensemble Tafelmusik in a series of glowing excerpts from Handel’s 

“Alcina” and “Agrippina.” The sound is smooth and lifelike, with an 

acute sense of place. 

Little Notebook of Anna Magdalana Bach (CD) � 

Over 30 delightful pieces, most by Bach himself. Soprano Karina 

Gauvin’s voice is mated to Luc Beauséjour’s harpsichord work. The 

sound is deep, detailed and warm, truly of audiophile quality. 

Vivaldi: Motets for Soprano (CD) � 

The wonderful soprano Karina Gauvin tackles the gorgeous but very 

difficult vocal music of Vivaldi: two motets and a psalm. 

AUDIOQUEST 

Mississipi Magic (CD/SACD) 

The legendary Blues, Gospel, rock and world beat singer and musician 

Terry Evans, in an energetic recording we loved. 

Come to Find (CD) � 

The first by Bluesman Doug McLeod, as impressive as the second, and 

no Blues fan should resist it. 

You Can’t Take My Blues (CD) � 

Singer/songwriter Doug MacLeod and colleagues present one of the 

most satisfying Blues records ever made. 

Unmarked Road (SACD) 

The third disc from the great blues singer and guitarist Doug McLeod 

is every bit as good as the first two. 

Bluesquest sampler (CD) 

SILENCE 

Tres Americas (CD) 

A gold audiophile disc of lively Latin fusion music. Irka Mateo and 

Tadeo de Marco sing and play, drawing their influence from Africa as 

well as their native Brazil. Clear, close-in sound. 

Djembé Tigui (CD) 

This gold disc features the voice and percussion of African artist 

Sekou Camara, captured by the famous Soundfield microphone. 

Camara died just before the disc was released. A long-time best-seller 

worldwide 

Styles (CD) 

Is this ever a surprising disc! Violinist Marc Bélanger worked up these 

string études for his music students, but they actually deserve to be 

put out on a gold audiophile disc! The more strings he adds, the better 

it gets. 

Fable (CD) 

Easygoing modern jazz by Rémi Bolduc and his quartet, on this gold 

disc. Some exceptional guitar and bass solos. 

Musique Guy St-Onge (CD) 

One-man band St-Onge plays dozens of instruments — scores for 

fourteen films which never existed outside of his imagination. Fun 

pretext, clever, attractive music that makes you wish you could see 

the films! 

HI-RES MUSIC (FOR DVD PLAYERS) 

Brazilian Soul (24/96 DVD) 

Guitarists Laurindo Almeida and Charlie Byrd, plus percussion and 

bass, in an intimate yet explosive recording of samba and bossa nova 

music. Great! 

Jazz/Concord (24/96 DVD) 

It's 1972, and you have tickets to hear Herb Ellis, Joe Pass, Ray Brown 

and Jake Hanna at the Concord Jazz Festival. You won’t ever forget it. 

You can be there, with this high resolution disc that goes in your DVD. 

Rhythm Willie (24/96DVD) � 

Guitarists Herb Ellis and Freddie Green, With bassist Ray Brown and 

others. This is an uncompressed 24 bit 96 kHz disc that can be played 

on any video DVD player. Awesome! 

Trio (24/96 DVD) � 

Pianist Monty Alexander with Herb Ellis and Ray Brown. “Makes CD 

sound seem as if it’s coming through a drinking straw.” Playable on 

any DVD player, uncompressed. 

Seven Come Eleven (24/96 DVD) 

Herb Ellis and Ray Brown again, but this time with guitarist Joe 

Pass (he and Ellis alternate playing lead and rhythm), and a third 

guitarist, Jake Hanna. This is a live recording from the 1974 Concord 

Jazz Festival. 

Soular Energy (24-96 DVD/ 24-192 DVD-Audio) � 

Perhaps the world’s greatest bassist, the late Ray Brown, playing with 

pianist Gene Harris, whom Brown called one of the greats. The proof 

is right on this 24/96 recording, made from the analog master. Side 2 

has a 24/192 DVD-A version. 

KLAVIER 

Evolution (CD) 

Lowell Graham and the USAF wind band, with two superb suites by 

Holst, plus music by Nelhybel, Hanson, etc. Lively, tactile sound with 

impact by Bruce Leek.. 

Poetics (CD) � 

A superb wind band recording which includes a breathtaking 

concerto for percussion. 

Caprice (CD) � 

Can harp be spectacular? Believe it! This famous Klavier recording 

features Susann McDonald playing Fauré, Glinka and Liszt, is a 

powerhouse! Engineered by Keith O. Johnson, with a great transfer by 

Bruce Leek. 


Sonatas for Flute and Harp 

These same great artists with sonatas by Krumpholz and Damase, as 

well as Spohr and Glinka. Oh yes, and a spectacular solo harp version 

of Ibert’s hilarious Entr’acte . 

Norman Dello Joio (CD) � 

This contemporary composer delights in the tactile sound of the wind 

band, and the Keystone Wind Ensemble does his music justice. So 

does the sound, of astonishing quality! 

Carmina Burana (CD) 

The celebrated Carl Orff oratorio sends chills down your spine, thanks 

to the huge orchestra, gigantic choir, and of course the clarity and 

depth of the Klavier sound. 

Obseción (CD) 

The Trio Amadé plays Piazzola, Berstein, Copland, and Emilion 

Cólon…who is the trio cellist. The Colón and Piazzola is definitely 

worth the price of admission. Lifelike sound. 

Misbehavin’ (CD) 

The superb Denver Brass does Gershwin (Cuban Overture, Porgy and 

Bess), plus On the Town, Sweet Georgia Brown, and of course Ain’t 

Misbehavin’. Great sound. 

Hemispheres (CD) 

The North Texas Wind Symphony with new music by contemporary 

composers who know how to thrill. Some of the best wind band sound 

available. 

Illuminations (CD) 

Absolutely great chamber musicians take on music by Villa-Lobos, 

Malcolm Arnold, and some composers you may not know but you’ll 

wish you did. Sublime sound, nothing less. 

Kickin’ the Clouds Away (CD) 

Gershwin died more than 60 years ago, but you can hear him playing 

piano in glowing stereo. Nineteen of his pieces are on this fine CD, 

including a solo piano version of the Rhapsody in Blue. 

FIRST/LAST IMPRESSIONS 

La Fille Mal Gardée (XRCD) 

A fine ballet with the Royal Ballet Company orchestra, from the 

original 1962 Decca recording. Exceptional 

Film Spectacular II (XRCD) 

The orchestra of Stanley Black plays some of the greatest film music 

of bygone years. From the original Decca Phase 4 tape. 

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante (XRCD) 

Igor and David Oistrakh with the Moscow Philharmonic, in a glorious 

1963 recording, from the original master tape 

Artistry oi Linda Rosenthal (HDCD) � 

The great violinist Rosenthal plays favorites: Hora Staccato, Perpetuum 

Mobile, Debussy’s Beau Soir, etc. 

Suite Española (XRCD) � 

The Albéniz suite, gorgeously orchestrated by Rafael Frühbeck de 

Burgos, who conducts the New Philharmonia. Beautifully remastered 

from the original 1963 tape. 

Audiophile Reference IV (SACD) � 

A stunning sampler, with recognizable audiophile selections you have 

never heard sound this good! 

Songs My Dad Taught Me (HDCD) 

Jazz pianist Jeremy Monteiro and three other musicians, with a retro 

collection of unforgettable tunes.

Café Blue (HDCD/CD) � 

Gold HDCD version of jazz singer Patricia Barber’s 1994 classic, an 

audiophile underground favorite. Or get the original CD, at lower cost. 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Pipes Rhode Island � 

John Marks recorded this tour of the organs of the tiny state, with 

amazing tones, captured in astonishing sound 

All We Need to Know � 

Jazz singer Margie Gibson’s first album since Say It With Music, on 

Sheffield. No one sings the way she does! 

Classica d’Oro (CD) 

All of the classical world’s most important heritage, on 50 audiophilequality 

gold CDs, at under $4 per CD. Fine artists from Germany, 

Austria, the UK, Eastern Europe. Listen to excerpts on line. 

Blues for the Saxophone Club (HDCD) � 

Swing jazz pianist Jeremy Monteiro, with guest artists, including 

saxophonist Ernie Watts. The HDCD sound is explosive! 

My Foolish Heart (CD) 

A collection of live and atudio pieces by Monteiro and other musicians, 

notably saxophonist Ernie Watts 


Neil Diamond: Serenade (CD) 

Just eight songs on this European CBS disc, but what songs! I’ve Been 

This Way Before, Lady Magdalene, Reggae Strut, The Gift of Song, 

and more. Glowing sound too. 

Harry Belafonte (CD) 

We haven’t heard Belafonte sound like this except on analog. The 16 

songs include Island in the Sun, Jamaica Farewell, Midnight Special, 

Michael Row the Boat Ashore, Brown Skin Girl, etc. 

Sources (CD) � 

A wonderful recording by Bïa (pronounced Bee-yah). She’s Brazilian, 

lives in France, recorded this terrific album (in 5 languages!) in 

Montreal. Just her warm voice and guitar, 

La mémoire du vent (CD) 

The original recording by Bïa, in French, Portuguese and English. If 

you love her second one, don’t hesitate. 

Carmin (CD) � 

The third by Bïa. Different this time, with more money for production, 

but it has been spent wisely. Superb songs, gloriously sung in Portuguese, 

French and the ancient Aymara language. 

Coeur vagabond (CD) 

Bïa sings French songs in Portuguese, Brazilian songs in French. A 

delight, as usual from this astonishing singer 

Nocturno (CD) 

Some are saying that this is Bïa’s best and most touching album since 

Sources. See if you agree. You won’t be disappointed. 

PURE PLEASURE LPs 

Duke Ellington 70th Birthday Concert (LP) 

A double 180-gram LP set, recorded live in England Includes Take the 

‘A’ Train, Satin Doll, Perdido, many others. 

Is That All There Is? (LP) 

Yes, it’s a 180-gram vinyl version of what must be Peggy Lee’s most 

famous album. Includes Me and My Shadow, I’m a Woman, Don’t 

Smoke in Bed, more. 

Blue Rose (LP) 

In the 50’s, Rosemary Clooney was at the top of her form, with a 

technique that sends chills down your spine. She is accompanied by 

Duke Ellington and his musicians. She does definitive versions of 

Ellington songs, such as Sophisticated Lady, It Don’t Mean a Thing 

If It Ain’t Got That Swing, I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good. This is a 

mono LP, but listen to hear how great mono could be! 

After Midnight (LP) 

A mono double-album of Nat King Cole’s greatest performances, 

with his own trio. Includes Sometimes I’m Happy, Caravan, It’s Only 

a Paper Moon, Route 66, You Can Depend on Me. A great classic, 

available on premium vinyl once more.. 

Payment by VISA or MasterCard, cheque or money order (in Canada). All merchandise is guaranteed unless explicitly sold “as 

is.” Certain items (the Super Antenna, the EAC line filter, and most standard-length cables) may be returned within 21 days less 

shipping cost. Other items may be subject to a restocking charge. Defective recordings will be exchanged for new copies. 

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TO OTHER COUNTRIES: up to $30, 18%. Up to $60, 15%. Above $60, 10%, MINIMUM $6. Magazines, books and taxes are not 

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VINYL ALBUMS 

After Midnight (2 LP) W782 48.00 

Autumn Shuffle LP22042 27.95 

Blazing Redheads RR-26 25.00 

Blue Rose CL872 36.00 

Duke Ellington 70th B’day (2 LP) 60001 48.00 

Fennell Favorites RR-43 25.00 

Good Stuff (2 LP) LP19603 47.95 

Is That All There Is? ST-386 36.00 

Jazz at the Pawnshop 7778-79 65.00 

Just like Love LP20002 27.95 

Showcase LP20000 27.95 

Spirit and the Blues (2 LP) LP19401 47.95 

Test Record No.4 OPLP9200 27.95 

Trittico RR-52 32.00 

Vinyl Essentials (test) LP003 48.95 

NEW MEDIA (SACD, DVD, ETC.) 

Across the Bridge of Hope CD22012 24.95 

Antiphone Blues (SACD) 7744SACD 37.95 

Audiophile Reference IV SACD 029 40.00 

Autumn Shuffle (SACD) CD22042 24.95 

Beethoven/Mendelssohn 5186 102 29.95 

Beyond (SACD) CD22072 24.95 

Brazilian Soul (DVD) HRM2009 24.95 

Cantate Domino (SACD) PSACD7762 29.95 

Conc. for Double Bass (SACD) CD8522 37.95 

Good Stuff (SACD) CD19623 37.95 

Jazz at the Pawnshop (3-SACD) PRSACD7879 90.00 

Jazz at the Pawnshop 2 (SACD) PRSACD7079 37.95 

Jazz/Concord (DVD) HRM2006 24.95 

Just Like Love (SACD) CD21002 24.95 

Mississipi Magic (SACD) AQSACD1057 24.95 

Musica Sacra (SACD) CD19516 24.95 

Now the Green Blade Riseth PRSACD9093 29.95 

Organ Treasures (SACD) CD22031 24.95 

Rhythm Willie (Audio DVD) HRM2010 24.95 

Seven Come Eleven (DVD) HRM2005 24.95 

Showcase (SACD) CD21000 24.95 

Showcase 2005 (SACD) CD22050 24.95 

Soular Energy (DVD/DVD-A) HRM2011 24.95 

Spirit & the Blues (SACD) CD19411 24.95 

Swingcerely Yours CD22081 24.95 

Tchaikovsky: Symph. #6 (SACD) 5186 107 29.95 

Test CD 4 (SACD) CD19420 24.95 

Test Records 1-2-3 CD19520 24.95 

Tiny Island (SACD) CD19824 24.95 

Trio (Audio DVD) HRM2008 24.95 

Tutti (SACD) RR-906SACD 24.00 

Unique Classical Guitar (SACD). CD22062 24.95 

Unmarked Road (SACD) AQ1046SACD 29.95 

Whose Truth, Whose Lies? AQ1054SACD 29.95 

RED BOOK COMPACT DISCS 

20th Anniversary Celebration CD19692 19.95 

30th Anniversary Sampler RR-908 16.95 

Alleluía AN 2 8810 21.00 

All We Need to Know GG-1 21.00 

An American Requiem RR-97CD 16.95 

Antiphone Blues 7744CD 21.95 

Artistry of Linda Rosenthal FIM022VD 27.95 

Bach Sonatas, violin & harpsi. AN 2 9829 21.00 

Bach Suites, Airs & Dances FL 2 3133 21.00 

Beachcomber RR-62CD 16.95 

Best of Chesky & Test, vol.3 JD111 21.95 

Best of the Red Army Chorus AN 2 8800 21.00 

Beethoven Symph. 5 & 6 AN 2 9891 21.00 

Blues for the Saxophone Club 26-1084-78-2 21.95 

Bluesquest AQCD1052 21.95 

Bossa Nova JD129 21.95 

Bruckner: Symph. No.9 RR-81CD 16.95 

Café Blue 21810 21.95 

Café Blue (HDCD gold) CD 010 39.95 

Cantabile AN 2 9810 21.00 

Cantate Domino 7762CD 21.95 

Caprice K11133 21.00 

Carmin ADCD10163 21.00 

Carmina Burana K 11136 21.00 

Classica d’Oro (50 CDs) GCM-50 149.95 

Come to Find AQCD1027 21.95 

Come Love CD19703 19.95 

Companion 22963 21.00 

Coeur vagabond ADCD10191 21.00 

Concertos for Double Bass OPCD8502 21.95 

Copland Symphony No.3 RR-93CD 16.95 

Djembé Tigui SLC9605-2 22.00 

Drum/Track Record 10081 21.00 

Ein Heldenleben RR-83CD 16.95 

Evolution K11161 21.95 

Eybler Quartets AN 2 9914 21.00 

Fable SLC9603-2 22.00 

Fantasia AN 2 9819 23.00 

Felix Hell RR-101CD 16.95 

Flm Spectacular II XR24 070 35.00 

French Showpieces FL 2 3151 21.00 

Fritz Kreisler FL 2 3159 21.00 

From the Age of Swing RR-59CD 16.95 

Garden of Dreams RR-108 16.95 

Gitans Y225035 24.95 

Good Stuff CD19603 19.95 

Good Vibes PRCD9058 19.95 

Growing up in Hollywood Town LIM XR 001 38.95 

Handel FL 2 3137 21.00 

Harry Belafonte 295-037 19.95 

Harry James & His Big Band 10057-2-G 24.00 

Hemispheres K11137 21.00 

Illuminations K11135 21.00 

Infernal Violins AN 2 8718 21.00 

It’s Right Here For You CD19404 19.95 

I’ve Got the Music in Me 10076 21.00 

Jazz at the Pawnshop PRCD-7778 19.95 

Jazz at the Pawnshop 2 PRCD9044 19.95 

Jazz Hat RR-114 16.95 

Jazz/Vol.1 JD37 19.95 

Keep on Movin’ AQCD1031 19.95 

Kickin’ the Clouds Away K77031 21.00 

Kodo 12222-2 21.00 

La Fille Mal Gardée XR24 013 38.95 

La mémoire du vent ADCD10144 21.00 

Les matins habitables GSIC-895 21.00 


Levande OPCD7917 19.95 

Leyrac chante Nelligan AN 2 8815 21.00 

Liszt-Laplante FL 2 3030 21.00 

Little Notebook of Anna M. Bach FL 2 3064 21.00 

Masters of Flute & Harp KCD11019 21.00 

Medinah Sessions RR-2102 16.95 

Mendelssohn: 2 Violin Conc. FL 2 3098 21.00 

Misbehavin’ K77034 21.00 

Mozart Complete Piano Trios AN 2 9827-8 27.50 

Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante XR24 069 38.95 

Mozart: Soprano Arias FL 2 3131 21.00 

Musica Sacra CD19506 19.95 

Musique Guy St-Onge SLC9700-2 22.00 

Musiques d’Europe centrale 88001 24.95 

My Foolish Heart 26-1084-92-2 21.95 

Neil Diamond: Serenade 465012-2 16.95 

Nocturno ADCD10227 21.00 

Nojima Plays Liszt RR-25CD 16.95 

Nojima Plays Ravel RR-35CD 16.95 

Non-Stop to Brazil JD29 19.95 

Norman Dello Joio K11138 21.00 

Nota del Sol AN 2 9817 21.00 

Now the Green Blade Riseth PRCD9093 19.95 

Obseción K11134 21.95 

Opera for Two FL 2 3076 21.00 

Organ Odyssey RR-113 16.95 

Pauline Viardot-Garcia AN 2 9903 21.00 

Pipes Rhode Island CD101 15.95 

Poetics K11153 21.00 

Pomp&Pipes RR-58CD 16.95 

Ports of Call RR-80CD 16.95 

Requiem RR-57CD 16.95 

Rio After Dark JD28 19.95 

Romantic Pieces FL 2 3191 21.00 

Sans Domicile Fixe 19012-2 24.95 

Say It With Music CD-36 21.00 

Serenade RR-110 16.95 

Sketches of Standard PRCD 9036 19.95 

Songs My Dad Taught Me FIM0009 27.95 

Sources ADCD10132 21.00 

Spirit and the Blues CD19401 19.95 

Styles SLC9604-2 22.00 

Suite Española XR24 068 38.95 

Swing is Here RR-72CD 16.95 

Telemann Sonatas for 2 Violins FL 2 3085 21.00 

Test CD 5 CD20000 21.95 

The King James Version 10068-2-F 21.00 

Tres Americas SLC9602-2 22.00 

Trittico RR-52CD 16.95 

Tutti (HDCD) RR-906CD 16.95 

Ultimate Demonstration Disc UD95 20.00 

Villa-Lobos FL 2 3051 21.00 

Violonchelo Español AN 2 9897 21.00 

Vivace AN 2 9808 21.00 

Vivaldi: Motets for Soprano FL 2 3099 21.00 

Vivaldi: Per Archi FL 2 3128 21.00 

World Keys RR-106 16.95 

Yerba Buena Bounce RR-109 16.95 

You Can’t Take My Blues AQCD1041 21.95

In the picture above you see the famous 

man, immortalized with a life-sized 

statue in his native city of Łódź. But 

look on the next page, where you’ll 

see a lad with curly blond locks and sparkling 

eyes. Who is this cherub who is such a 

charmer at the age of three? What path will 

he follow, what life will he lead? What will 

he leave behind? 

We are stunned when we study the avalanche 

of what has been written about him, 

about the many demonstrations of his prodigious 

talents, not only in piano but also in 

languages and in history. Such intelligence! 

And did I mention his charm? 

Yet his life nearly ended when he was 

but 20, when he attempted suicide. Having 

Software 

The 20 th Century 

Rubinstein 

failed in that enterprise, he will embrace life 

without limit, refusing any guilt over sterile 

regrets. Well into his nineties, he will affirm, 

with a touch of humor, that to find the 

happiest man he knows, he has but to look in 

the mirror, This exceptional being impressed 

me no end, and I invite you to discover Arthur 

Rubinstein…or rediscover him. 

To follow this sparkling personality 

across nearly a century is a voyage 

of delightful discovery. In his Memoirs, 

there is no trace of the banality, of the 

platitudes and clichés that are often the 

mainstay of biographies. Without wish- 

by Reine Lessard 

ing to minimize any gaps or errors that 

may be found in the two volumes of 

his life, I can say that his phenomenal 

memory and his incomparable storytelling 

talent provide a rich trove of 

fascinating historical details. Rubinstein 

lived through two world wars and was a 

witness to the horrors of Communism, 

Nazism and Fascism. Such an autobiography 

can outshine many a history 

book, whose author may have his own 

agenda. 

Arthur Rubinstein sees the light of 

day in 1887 in a Jewish family in Łódź, 

which is today in Poland, though it was 

then dominated by the Russian empire. 

In Polish and other Slavic languages, 

Arthur is often written Artur, but his 

name really is spelled with an h. His later 

impresario, the legendary Sol Hurok, 

will bill him as Artur, perhaps because 

it sounds more exotic. He will in fact 

call himself “Artur” in countries where 

that spelling is current, just as he will be 

“Arturo” in Spain and Italy. 

One event in particular launches his 

precocious career. At the age of two he 

borrows his sister’s piano in order to 

exercise his memory by improvising 

popular airs. Yet none of his forbears for 

several generations had shown a particular 

interest in music (Arthur is not 

related to the pianist and composer Anton 

Rubinstein, nor to another Russian 

pianist, Nicolas Rubinstein). And yet his 

uncle, Nathan Follman, is sufficiently 

cultivated to realize that not only is Arthur 

fascinated by the piano, but he has 

a considerable gift. Fluent in German, 

Follman writes to Joseph Joachim, the 

director of the Royal Academy of Music 

in Berlin. In a warm letter of acknowledgement, 

Joachim advises him to find 

a good teacher for the lad, but cautions 

against putting undue pressure on the 

boy. He adds, if you could bring him to me 

in Berlin, I would be delighted to see him. 

In the meantime Arthur’s mother 

signs him up for lessons with a Madame 

Pawlowska, whose rigidity however repels 

him. He is soon introduced to another 

teacher, one whose appearance is 

strange and worrisome for the sensitive 


Software 

Feedback 

boy. However Adolf Preschner is an 

excellent teacher. Arthur makes rapid 

progress and, not long after, he is invited 

to participate in a charity concert. 

Of course a special authorization is required, 

since he is only seven. Preschner 

agrees without hesitation. And thus 

begins the preparation for a substantial 

program that will bring him his first 

successes. 

Warsaw 

Though Arthur is surrounded by 

loving family, he is shattered by the loss 

of his adored little cousin Noemi, shown 

with him in the picture above, and that 


of his grandfather. During this period of 

mourning, he maintains only enough interest 

in music to practice his scales. He 

throws himself into voracious reading, 

seizing upon everything he finds: fairy 

tales, history books and biographies of 

illustrious men. Preschner deplores his 

laziness and his lack of motivation. 

In 1898 his parents consider that the 

time has come to send him to Warsaw. 

Never before having left his native city, 

Arthur discovers the beauty of his country. 

He admires the countryside, he is 

ecstatic before the majesty of its forests, 

its limitless fields and its gold-tinged autumn 

leaves. He is equally impressed by 

the authenticity of the people. 

At the Warsaw Conservatory, he 

meets the magnificent pianist specializing 

in Chopin, Alexander Michalowski. 

Finding Arthur too young, he refers 

him to the noted teacher Aleksander 

Rózycki. Arthur is boarded with a relative 

during the period of his studies with 

Rózycki. 

Though the pain of his separation 

from his family will leave traces, it is 

compensated by the opportunity of 

playing with children his age. His hostess’s 

library gives him access to literary 

treasures that feed his insatiable curiosity 

and his love of reading. He is less 

pleased with Rózycki, whom he finds 

tedious. He therefore directs his attention 

to musical styles he considers more 

stimulating, to the displeasure of his old 

teacher. 

One day, in a Warsaw street, he witnesses 

a pogrom, a horror that will mark 

him for life. 

Berlin 

Arthur receives an occasional visit 

from members of his family in Łódź, 

and one morning his mother arrives 

unannounced to bring him home. Arthur 

then learns that his father Isaac, 

who owns a textile factory, is ruined, 

as indeed are many of his compatriots. 

Needing to seek out new trades, they 

scatter to the four corners of the land. 

The Warsaw experience has not 

been the much-anticipated success, and 

that for several reasons. Madame Rubinstein, 

who is tireless in her presence 

for her son, begins once again to evoke 

Berlin and Joseph Joachim. It should be 

said that Joachim had also been a prodigy, 

considered at the age of 13 one of 

the greatest violinists of his time! 

Not only does Joachim agree to take 

charge of the lad’s musical education, 

but his cultural guidance as well. He 

poses a condition: Arthur must complete 

his education until he is mature, 

and he must never be exploited as a child 

prodigy. The promise will be kept. 

And so we see the young Arthur 

at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, 

where Joachim introduces him to Karl 

Heinrich Barth, the dean of piano at the 

Imperial Academy of Music. 

Barth is a demanding teacher, and

under his tutelage Arthur makes rapid 

progress. Under the agreement with 

Joachim, Barth receives no remuneration, 

and indeed looks after the young 

boy’s expenses. To avoid sending him to 

high school, he spends two days a week 

with him at home, and opens the door 

to courses in theory, harmony and musical 

ensemble at the Royal and Imperial 

Academy. 

When he turns 11 Barth seeks to 

perfect his culture by getting him lessons 

with Theodor Altmann, who, like 

a magician, leads him into a voyage 

through the centuries of human experience, 

overcoming the boy’s resistance 

to school texts. Arthur meets Plato, Socrates, 

Aristotle, and a little later Kant 

and Schopenhauer. 

Though Arthur is fascinated by theatre, 

it is musical life that has the strongest 

attraction for him. Surrounded by 

the musical and cultural elite, always 

prepared to enrich his knowledge, he 

continues to astonish one and all with 

his precocious acquaintance with the 

whole spectre of cultural flux. Joachim’s 

little protégé is more and more popular. 

Invitations flow, and he is treated as 

though he were an adult rather than a 

schoolboy. It is thus that, barely at the 

threshold of puberty, he spends his 

time with philosophers and learned folk 

of myriad disciplines. Add to that the 

countless occasions on which he is able 

to hear the greatest artists of the contemporary 

world: the immortal composer, 

pianist, professor and conductor 

Ferruccio Busoni, the great French violinist 

Jacques Thibaud, the pianist and 

composer Eugène d’Albert, the Belgian 

violinist and composer Eugène Ysaÿe, 

whose exuberance and sensuality captivate 

him, the brilliant pianist Teresa 

Careno, not to mention Edouard Risler, 

Gabrilowitsch, Arthur Schnabel, and 

the famous Joachim quartet. 

Regularly invited to the feast tables 

of the rich, Arthur always agrees with 

grace to play his favorite composers. It 

is his way of saying thanks, but it is also 

a most enriching experience. 

A first love affair 

Arthur’s 13th spite his lack of enthusiasm for religion 

in general, he is a willing participant 

in exercises intended to make 

him ready for this important step in 

the life of a Jewish adolescent. 

After the ceremony one of the 

female guests, propelled by her emotions 

and possibly a few more glasses 

than she absolutely needed, kisses 

him on the mouth, leaving him in a 

fearful state. He even asks the bold 

lady if she will accept to wait a decade 

or so that he might marry her! 

He lays it on thickly, playing the desperate 

lover who craves her company 

for the night-time. So persuasive is 

he that she actually agrees to come 

by regularly after the household is 

asleep. But the affair ends abruptly 

when his landlady catches on, and 

lets the nighttime intruder know 

she is no longer welcome. The lady 

leaves without protest, and Arthur con- Then, one day, a miracle. Joachim 

cludes that her interest was more mater- announces that he has secured an aunal 

than erotic. 

dience with the legendary Polish pia- 

It is his first heartbreak. 

nist Ignacy Paderewski at his villa in 

But let us not dismiss too lightly this Switzer land. Joachim hopes to obtain an 

youth’s yearning for a maternal pres- evaluation of the young Arthur’s artistic 

ence, a yearning that will in fact never potential. Arthur, for his part, is at the 

cease. Did his mother abandon him peak of excitement and spends his wak- 

when he was too young? What we know ing time at the piano, hoping to erase in 

is that he will have a voracious appetite 

Not just for hardware… 

members of the opposite sex, and 

just a few days the result of a long period 

of indolence. 

he will be eternally vulnerable to their Finding himself before the great 

What long-time advances, readers tell no us matter they most their like age about or their UHF man, is that after it a long trip and a few wor- 

does more than review social amplifiers rank. and speakers. 

risome incidents, he is stunned by Pa- 

In every issue, we discuss ideas. 

derewski’s handsomeness, by his el- 

We try to tell you Paderewski what you need to know, besides what CD egance, player to and especially by his charm and 

buy. 

A series of untoward events begin to his smile. Arthur compares him to the 

It’s one of the features affect Arthur: that makes a concert UHF he Magazine himself con- unlike any sun. other A long chat with the master results 

audio magazine. 

siders a flop, increasingly tense relations in an intimate confidence by Paderewski. 

with the severe Barth, and Barth’s great His only son, born with a congenital 

pettiness toward Rubinstein père. Worse malformation, has just died. Though 

yet are Barth’s jealous rages against the Paderewski may not wish to minimize 

wonderful Altmann, whom he fires sum- the young musician’s problems, he says, 

marily to be replaced by someone of his “Don’t take your problems too much to 

choosing. Above all there is his mother’s heart. As you can see, there can be even 

fierce determination to come share his greater grief in the life of an artist.” 

life, the better to run it. It requires no It is a moment that will remain en- 

more to break down the resistance of graved in the adolescent’s memory. Also 

this hypersensitive boy who has passed unforgettable, of course, is his private 

from puberty to adult life far from those recital for Paderewski, followed by the 

he loves. He has no appetite, and sleep famous pianist’s advice on fingering, 

does not come. Pale, thin and depressed, complex pedal work and other impor- 

birthday falls January he tumbles into serious inertia which tant pianistic matters. The young Ar- 

28, 1900. Preparing for his bar-mitzvah, touches anything and everything to do thur is invited to return during his sum- 

he studies Hebrew, to be sure, and de- with music. 

mer vacation. 


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A bronze casting of Arthur Rubinstein’s hands 

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It should be said that, notwithstanding 

Arthur’s admiration and gratitude, 

he will always resist the great pianist’s 

rubato, which he views as exaggerated, 

as well as his frequent use of arpeggio 

chords. 

Once back home. Arthur learns that, 

to his relief tinged with guilt, his mother 

has changed her mind about moving 

in with him and running his life. 

Shortly after comes Paderewski’s letter 

to Joachim, confirming Arthur’s brilliant 

talent, and predicting the greatest 

of futures. 


For the moment, Arthur pursues his 

language studies, and continues to read 

with passion. 

Hello Chopin, goodbye Barth 

In the first decade of the 20th Century, 

Arthur meets Juliusz Wertheim 

(called by the sobriquet “Frederic Harman” 

in his autobiography), a young and 

talented musician, the scion of an influential 

Warsaw family. The Wertheims, 

who possess a colossal fortune, organize 

salons, at which Arthur is a regular. Juliusz 

is an unconditional enthusiast of 

Frédéric Chopin, and introduces his 

new friend to the music of Chopin by 

casting it in a new light. He stresses the 

qualities that he believes have been overlooked 

by generations of musicians, of 

which Paderewski is the most famous. 

Through his friend, Arthur discovers 

a Chopin whose elegance and emotion 

are buttressed by a virile strength 

that belies the composer’s sickly constitution. 

Arthur will become Chopin’s 

apostle, and his most brilliant performer. 

Not going so far as to reject rubato (the 

variation of the length of notes, done for 

emotional effect) altogether, he learns to 

moderate it, and to remove what some 

regard as sappiness, and even a lack of 

naturalness he has often deplored in the 

playing of even some talented pianists. 

On the contrary, he brings forth from 

Chopin’s music a power and exuberance 

that will mark his style, and which will 

henceforth delight audiences. 

Once sound recordings enter the 

musical landscape, Arthur will record 

an important part of Chopin’s output, 

helping anchor Chopin’s reputation as 

a major, powerful composer. His legendary 

performances will remain unequalled. 

Even at his final concert at the 

age of 89, his failing eyesight leaving 

him unable to see the keyboard, he will 

perform the Scherzo No. 2 with energy 

and power that border on the infernal. 

Among his enduring friendships are 

those with the great Russian/Polish violinist, 

Pawel (or Paul) Kochański, who is 

also a composer and arranger and taught 

at the Warsaw Conservatory from 1909 

to 1911, as well as pianist and composer 

Karol Szymanowski. 

These young people, prodigies to 

a man, are the core of a joyous band. 

They love music and life, and their gettogethers 

are always memorable. Arthur, 

the youngest of them, conquers many a 

society woman, or one of the actresses 

passed on to him by Juliusz, for reasons 

that will be evident later. 

But Arthur tires of Berlin and dreams 

of returning to Warsaw. He plays a concert 

in the Polish capital, and it is there 

that — too young to understand feminine 

psychology — he is once again 

wounded by Cupid’s arrow. 

He raises his head, and determines 

to continue. Henceforth he will look 

after himself, with no more tutors and 

other guides to interfere. After a final, 

fiery argument with Barth, Arthur sets 

out toward a new life. 

An adolescent in the tumult 

In Warsaw Arthur continues to inflame 

his senses with evenings at the 

theatre, animated suppers with his 

many friends, lunch with one or another, 

meetings with the famous of the 

worlds of the arts, sciences and politics. 

At the age of 17 he is impetuous but 

still inexperienced, ready to plunge into 

what life can offer in the way of exquisite 

experiences. He is at a stage where 

he truly needs moral support in order 

to continue his musical studies in disciplined 

fashion. 

This extroverted young man has

little difficulty establishing relations 

with women of different ages and marital 

situations, captivated by his talent, 

the irresistible charm emanating from 

his personality, and the halo which results 

from his great popularity. How can 

they not fall for him? Piano practice can 

wait. 

Among his conquests are Juliusz’s 

mother, Aleksandra Wertheim 

(“Magdalena Harman” in his Memoirs), 

a charming and desirable woman who 

pays him much attention and who loves 

to sing with him accompanying her. A 

full-blown love affair is inevitable, but 

she is a demanding mistress. His days 

with her are so busy that he neglects the 

piano, and so it is only at night that he 

finds himself at the keyboard. 

However he puts aside what he considers 

Barth’s limited and old-fashioned 

repertoire in favor of a style better suited 

to his inner Romanticism. He must 

prepare for a concert at the Morskie Oko, 

which he is counting on to finance his 

departure for Paris. Happily, his unique 

aptitude for identifying rapidly the sense 

and structure of a musical work is of 

much aid, as is a phenomenal memory 

which will never let him down. 

In truth, he often accuses himself of 

laziness, for he eschews mere detail in 

order to plunge straight to the heart of 

a composer’s message. Certainly it’s easy 

to become indolent when everything 

comes so easily, and when others must 

make twice the effort in order to get the 

same results…if indeed they can. 

But let us not leap to the conclusion 

that Rubinstein’s young years are 

marked by drinking and wenching. 

During this time he has much occasion 

to perfect his technique and add to his 

artistic baggage. He gives numerous 

recitals and he never misses a chance 

to share music and artistic experiences 

with the greatest composers of his era. 

Paris 

In 1904 Rubinstein plays the Brahms 

Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as a work by 

his new friend, Wertheim’s Fantasy, with 

the Warsaw Philharmonic conducted 

by Wertheim himself. The same year 

we see him in Paris, launching his career 

in no uncertain terms. Let us, then, 

picture this adolescent in the company 

of composer and pianist Maurice Ravel, 

orchestral genius Paul Dukas, French 

violin virtuoso Jacques Thibaud, cellist 

Pablo Casals, the eminent organist and 

composer Gabriel Fauré, and so many 

more leading lights. He even plays 

Saint-Saëns’ Concerto No. 2 in G Minor 

in the presence of the composer, who is 

conquered. The name of Arthur Rubinstein 

is now known across Europe. 

It takes him little time to accommodate 

himself to the lively life of the 

City of Light…so little time, in fact, 

that he quickly finds himself penniless. 

His need of funds drives him to accept 

a concert tour in the United States. In 

January of 1906 he plays Carnegie Hall 

with the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

The critics are but lukewarm, for 

American concertgoers don’t much like 

his habit of using the forte pedal in order 

to mask inaccurate fingering. He pursues 

his American tour nonetheless, and 

his international engagements take him 

as far as Russia. 

Back in Paris, he throws himself once 

again into a frantic lifestyle. He is sometimes 

so poor he must seek a place to 

lay his head, and he is sometimes lionized 

by a rich and cultivated élite whose 

members are only too happy to be seen 

in his company. To be blunt, he is not 

above using his friends in order to live 

beyond his means. 

He befriends conductor Serge Koussevitzky 

and a young composer named 

Igor Stravinsky. His circle of friends 

widens, and yet… 

In 1907, with his taste for high society 

unbounded, he begins to harbor 

doubts about himself. Indebted to the 

point of homelessness, he falls into despair, 

and he even tries to end his life. 

As luck would have it, however, the mechanical 

device he puts together in order 

to hang himself malfunctions. Thus 

saved from oblivion, he feels reborn, 

and never again will his love of life betray 

him. 

In these years Berlin is in full transformation, 

with a quickly growing population, 

great developments in architecture, 

a building boom, and a wide array 

of cafés, fancy restaurants and theatres. 

It becomes a world metropolis, in which 

artistic and cultural matters fill a central 

role. Rubinstein’s several triumphs in 

Berlin lead to a truly international career: 

the United States, Australia, Italy, 

Russia and Great Britain. From here on, 

his life will be made up of a succession 

of events that will be fodder both for the 

readers of popular publications and the 

great music journals. 

Rubinstein is conscious of his immaturity, 

and he returns to his studies 

and perfects his repertoire before tour- 


Two photos from the museum devoted to another great pianist, Emil Gilels. The second photo bears a dedication to Gilels 

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Rubinstein’s wife Nela examines a bust of her husband 

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his pantomime Pet- is cheery and generous, speaking seven 

rouchka, and writes his languages, often welcomed into the 

Piano Rag Music (1919) homes of such luminaries of the time as 

for him. 

Maria Callas, Baron Guy de Rothschild, 

The latter piece is not Marc Chagall, and a number of others. 

to Rubintein’s liking, Her divorce finally comes through and 

and his open hostility to she and Arthur wed in London in 1932. 

it puts Stravinsky into a They will have four children. 

fury. It is, however, by Now married, Arthur determines 

hearing Rubinstein play to look after the promotion of his ca- 

it that he will underreer. Realizing his shortcomings as a 

stand that the piano is performer, he spends several years out 

more than a percussion of the public eye to polish his technique 

instrument, and that its and add to his already immense reper- 

strings can be made to toire. In 1937, now at the height of his 

sing. The two will be- powers, he makes a triumphal return to 

come lifelong friends. New York. 

Arthur Rubinstein is He has lost none of his prodigious 

now a star. In 1924 two liveliness. His marathon concerts of 

recitals at the Théâtre chamber music, alongside Paul Kochan- 

ing the capitals of Europe. In London in des Champs-Élysées in Paris are a triski and Jascha Heifetz, among others, 

1912 he plays alongside Pablo Casals. In umph, and he settles in Paris. At the keep him at the summit of his popular- 

1914, disgusted by the shameful conduct same time he begins a new aspect of ity. Without forgetting Brahms, whom 

of the Germans in the tragic and unnec- his career, recording. He loves making Rubinstein has always adored, there is 

essary Great War, he plays a final con- records, convinced that they will help his interpretation of Chopin, luminous 

cert in Germany, and then vows never About to make him the eternal. Audiophile and Store lyrical, sometimes meditative, but 

return. During the course of the War he The 1930’s are fertile for several always powerful, inviting the listener to 

lives in England, where he finds engage- There reasons. are eight It pagesin is a time this of magazine decline of that some are a listen catalog with for a different The ear to this familiar 

ments, but also plays, alongside Eugene Audiophile of Store. the century’s The store great belongs pianists, to UHF, such and as it music. is stocked Those with fortunate acces- enough to have 

Ysaÿe and the London Symphony, sories for and Rachmaninov recordings that and we Josef recommend? Hofmann, thus heard Rubinstein in concert (and that 

Allied troops. 

Do we leaving have a room conflict for of the interest? next generation. Actually we don’t, includes because Gerard) anything report being delighted 

we don’t But like doesn’t the new make pianists it to are the obsessed store. We’re with not by tempted his joie de to vivre cheat, and be- by the unequalled 

Spain 

cause the precision, credibility with we’ve technique, built up over with the power. years is luminous worth a lot sound more of than his piano. They will 

In 1916 and 1917 Rubinstein a few un- sales. And, If a on competitor the contrary, makes here something is Arthur better, tell so you be it, they and left we’ll the even concert hall a smile 

dertakes a long tour of Spain, where say so he in Rubinstein, a review. with his Romantic style. on their lips and their feet ready to 

discovers the music of two Catalonian And the store Among actually the greats, protects only us from Vladimir potential dance. conflicts. 

composers, Enrique Granados and Isaac In the Horowitz past, advertisers will continue have attempted for a few to more shake us down, threatening 

Albéniz. His interpretation of the to music cancel years. their ads Yet if Rubinstein we published realizes something that, with negative. American It hasn’t citizenship happened 

of these two composers remains a for mod- a while, his but lack then of steadfastness everyone knows and his it won’t long ab- work. The In Audiophile Europe the Store Nazi wave continues 

el. He also meets Manuel de Falla puts of eight sence pages from of advertising the concert in stage, every Horowitz issue, and those to widen, are pages spreading no one death wherever 

Ritual Fire Dance fame, and helps can popucancel. 

can never be an unbeatable competitor. there are Jews. When Germany invades 

larize his music — de Falla will become Check It out is to the Rubinstein’s store, ot its on-line credit that counterpart. he can We Poland think Arthur, there’s having great already lost most 

the greatest Spanish composer stuff of his there. recognize If we didn’t his similar think failings so, it wouldn’t and set be out there. 

of his family, seeks refuge overseas. He 

age. Rubinstein’s concert series dazzles to remedy them. 

elects domicile in Los Angeles, in a 

his audiences with his flamboyant play- 

community of artists and intellectuals 

ing as well as his unique personality that Beginning his fifth decade 

in exile. There, his artistic output grows 

leaves no one indifferent, In 1920 De Paris opens its arms to him once considerably, as does his income. He in- 

Falla will dedicate his Fantasia Beatica to more, and Rubinstein falls once again vests a large part of his riches to chari- 

him. 

into a life of pleasure. He is already ties working with refugees. 

Then Arthur is off to South America, 40 when he decides to settle down and In 1946 he receives American citi- 

where he becomes a favorite of concert- marry. His choice is an attractive blonde zenship, though he has spent most of his 

goers, and where composers dream of with turquoise eyes, Aniela Mlynarska life in Europe. He has recorded nearly 

having him play their music. Brazilian (1908-2001), daughter of the eminent the entire works of Chopin, as well as 

composer Heitor Villa-Lobos dedicates Polish composer and maestro, Emil the repertoire of the great piano con- 

his Rudepoema to him (Rubinstein will Mlynarski. At 24 she is much younger certos (he recorded the five Beethoven 

premiere it in Paris in 1926). Stravinsky than Rubinstein, and what is more she is concertos no fewer than three times). 

transcribes for him three excerpts from already married. A talented dancer, she In 1951, following the creation of 


the state of Israel, he tours, giving 20 

concerts in just 23 days. 

It is only in 1958 that he returns 

to Poland. In 1964 he performs in the 

Soviet Union. In both countries he is 

greeted with almost hysterical enthusiasm. 

However he will never agree to 

play in the countries responsible for the 

Shoah and the destruction of his family. 

At the age of 83, he leaves Nela, his 

wife of 43 years, to live with a woman 

in her 20’s, Annabelle Whitestone. He 

had entrusted her with two of his protégés, 

and he has been seeing her in 

secret when he is in Geneva, before finally 

moving in with her. It is a bright 

but brief love story, considering Arthur’s 

advanced age. She helps in the writing 

of his second book, which is dedicated 

to her. 

Annabelle says of her late husband 

that he “once sold as many records as 

rock stars, and was as much at ease in 

the White House as he was with his 

chums Picasso and Charlie Chaplin.” In 

January of 2008, she organized an event 

titled Remembering Rubinstein, a day of 

concerts and presentations at the Royal 

Academy of Music. Annabelle herself 

went on to marry a British publisher 

whom Rubinstein himself had introduced 

her to. 

An urn containing Rubinstein’s ashes 

is buried in the Rubinstein Forest in 

Israel. 

Epilogue 

If I have dedicated so much of this 

article to Rubinstein’s young years, it is 

because there can be found the essentials 

of his life. Starting with the 1960’s 

I could have told you little you don’t already 

know, such as a list of his musical, 

social and romantic successes. 

His was a changing personality, fluctuating 

between extreme self-confidence 

and periods of depression, or at least of 

anguish. An authentic epicurean, he 

sought out gastronomic adventures and 

the finest wines and spirits. He was often 

in debt, the result of the excesses resulting 

from his hedonism and his impatient 

nature. He could pass in but a few 

days from a garret to a palace, from total 

penury to abundance, and back again. 

Because of Arthur Rubinstein’s incomparable 

charisma, his joyousness, 

Rubinstein in 

Film and Print 

Aside from Rubinstein’s wellknown 

modern recordings, 

available in full stereo, he 

also made numerous liverecording 

player piano music rolls for 

the Aeolian Duo-Art system and the 

American Piano Company (AMPICO), 

all of which survive today. Unlike 

common player pianos, the expensive 

reproducing pianos could reproduce 

dynamics and even pedal action. 

Several performances were for some 

years available on the Klavier label, 

though they are now largely out of 

distribution. 

These reproducing piano performances 

have been much praised, 

especially those of 1929, performed on 

a Bechstein reproducing piano. In some 

circles these are still considered to be 

Rubinstein’s best performances. 

Rubinstein has been the subject of a film too. François Reichenbach, a great art 

collector and amateur, and a filmmaker who has immortalized painters, sculptors, 

actors, directors, musicians and singers, made a 1969 film about him, titled Love of 

Life. 

His two-volume memoir are certainly to be recommended. The first volume, My 

Young Years, are available only on the second hand market. The second volume, My 

Many Years, is even rarer. There are numerous biographies still in print, including 

Rubinstein: A Life in Music by Harvey Sachs, and Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey 

by Perri Kniz. 

his evident love of playing, his hilarious 

sense of humor, this adorable ham 

conquered not only audiences, but also 

the numerous women with whom he 

had not always smooth affairs. Yet he 

was always forgiven by his mistresses, 

who were at once lovers and mothers, 

encouraging him, advising him, sometimes 

tyrannizing him. They also gave 

him admiration and affection. 

To be frank, he himself admitted he 

had been neither a model father nor an 

ideal spouse, caught up as he was in the 

maelstrom of his career and his equally 

effervescent social life. 

I cannot recall reading as much 

about such a major figure as Arthur 

Rubinstein. Especially engaging is his 

autobiography, though it is confusing, 

because he always gives the impression 

that he was older than he was in reality. 

In reading it, I found myself stopping to 

check dates, only to realize that, having 

only just grown out of short pants, Arthur 

was already receiving the passionate 

favors of a long list of much older 

women who loved him. 

Precocious in everything, this remarkable 

adolescent lived his social, 

romantic and sexual life like a seasoned 

man, and on the contrary he lived his 

old age like an adolescent, with a passion 

and a love of life that are beyond 

compare. 


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Bach: Cello Suites, vol. 1 

Martin Zeller 

M•A M073A 

Simon: Get it for the sound. Period. 

That’s it. No need to add anything else. 

You’ll be stunned. 

When I heard the gorgeous sound 

of that cello, my jaw dropped. It’s not 

just that it was “right there,” it felt more 

as though I were right there, within 

touching distance of the instrument. 

And what a wonderful cello this one is, 

crafted around 1673 by Austrian Jacobus 

Stainer, a superb violin maker who may 

have had an association with the great 

makers of Cremona. It was lent to Zeller 

for this recording. You’ll know what I 

am talking about when you listen to the 

first suite’s slow Sarabande on track 4, for 

instance, and literally feel the richness 

of the chords, deeply resonating in your 

chest if you sit close enough to Martin 

Zeller…I mean to your loudspeakers. 

Speaking of this young and talented 

Swiss cellist, he is currently principal 

cello at the Kammerorchester Basel, and 

among his many other responsibilities, 

teaches Baroque cello at the Musikhochshule 

Zurich. 

His particular interest in Baroque 

music gives a unique feeling of authenticity 

to his playing. It is striking right from 

the beginning, in the first bars of Suite 

1. He attacks the Prelude with surprising 

speed (compared to, say, historic recordings 

by Casals or Starker), and I smiled 

spontaneously at his unusually marked 

downbowing, which gave the piece a 

liveliness I had not expected. You can 

listen to the beginning of that Prelude 


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and Albert Simon 

on the M•A Recordings web site (www. 

marecordings.com), and make sure you 

have a decent pair of headphones on or 

a good connection to your system. 

Listening with amazement to the 

rest of the movements and the other 

two suites, I noticed the meticulous care 

Zeller took in clearly outlining each 

note, whether it be part of a flourish or 

as soft as a whisper, and it seemed true to 

what it must have sounded like in Bach’s 

time, that it evoked images such as finely 

ornate Baroque paintings and elegantly 

carved furniture. You’ll understand 

exactly what I mean when you listen 

with delight to the Minuet in Suite 2, for 

example. 

The same care has gone into the 

production of this absolutely remarkable 

88.2 kHz High Sampling recording 

using M•A’s custom-made, line-level 

DC-powered microphones. It even 

features striking cover photographs by 

Peter Han (I hope you’ll appreciate the 

differences in the three cover shots). 

The second volume of the Bach Suites 

is scheduled to be recorded sometime 

during the fall of 2009. 

If you are not familiar with these 

suites, you’ll discover a monument to 

the art of the cello and to music, as they 

have been arranged for countless instruments, 

including a version for saxophone. 

Describing them properly would be like 

describing the Mona Lisa to someone 

who has never seen it (let’s see now, “a 

bust of a woman, no eyebrows, head covered, 

hands crossed, a slight smile”). 

Warning: after you hear the sound 

quality of this CD and Martin Zeller’s 

unique interpretation, other versions 

may sound thin and lacking in heart and 

genuineness. 

If, however, you are familiar with 

the Bach Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, 

this album is a must, and I don’t say that 

lightly. I dare say this version might even 

successfully challenge all your previous 

references. 

It did in my case. 

Deserts 

La Nef 

Fidelio FACD026 (or downloadable at 

www.fideliomusique.com) 

Simon: This unique album is the result 

of a collaboration between Claire Gignac 

of La Nef and Pierre Hamon, flutist 

and joint artistic director of the French 

ensemble Alla Francesca, bringing 

Medieval music back to life. Contralto 

and player of various instruments, Claire 

Gignac is also joint artistic director of 

La Nef, a Montreal-based musical and 

production company dedicated to Early 

and World Music, with an added interest 

in New Music including multimedia 

productions, music theatre and school 

workshops. It’s all a wonderful example 

of music without borders. 

Deserts is a collection of original compositions 

inspired by the landscapes and 

peoples of North Africa, Asia and the 

Americas, plus three traditional pieces. 

It is a musical exploration of the world’s 

vast and windswept landscapes. 

Rub al Khali opens with a cascading 

series of notes on the santoor by Shawn 

Mativetsky, answered by the hauntingly 

low sound of one of Pierre Hamon’s 

flutes, and soon joined by composer 

Andrew Wells-Oberegger on oud. The 

contrasting textures of high and low 

drums that soon surround them carry us 

into a desolate, treeless land somewhere 

in Asia Minor or North Africa. You can 

almost feel the welcome coolness of an 

early evening, the starry sky, with shades 

of pink lingering on the western horizon, 

and the tiny, crackling fire surrounded

y hot, rounded pebbles. 

Everything in this album is about 

atmosphere. Listen to Hamon’s solo 

flute, accented by an appropriate echo, 

playing his composition Aube (Dawn), 

and you might even see the vast open 

landscape all around you, becoming 

slowly brighter as he calls upon the 

sun to rise. The two traditional Mayan 

Chants are wonderful travels in space and 

time, smoothly carried by Claire Gignac’s 

warm voice. The finely-recorded 

sound surrounds us, the percussion is 

so naturally realistic that it moves us 

physically, and the lyrics are so clear we 

are tempted to learn the language. 

On track 6, titled Soleil de Sang (Blood 

Sun), wait for the dialogue between 

Hamon’s striking flute and a huge deep 

drum. There is adult-sized bass here! 

More of that on Cent Pas dans le Désert 

(One Hundred Steps in the Desert), a 

strictly percussion piece. A seemingly 

meditative piece, Pluies (Rains), pairs 

Hamon on a warm-sounding bass ethnic 

type of flute, and Patrick Graham on 

various percussion in a joint composition, 

quiet yet complex music, evocative 

of warm sunshine and mottled shade. 

Imagine, then, the wind howling on 

icefields stretching to the limits of what 

your squinting eyes can see and an 

Inuit lament rising hauntingly from the 

moving whiteness. No need to imagine 

it, because when you listen to Quijavit 

on track 12 you’ll hear it all, including 

the wind. The album closes with Transhumance, 

another slow, meditative piece 

written by Claire Gignac in a percussion 

style reminiscent of Indonesian Gamelan 

playing. 

As I said at the start, I consider this 

album unique, a rare documentary 

on the vast and sparsely-populated 

expanses of our world as felt, written 

and interpreted by unusual musicians. 

Let go of your surroundings during your 

listening, and ride the wave around the 

globe. The sound quality is amazing, 

the textures palpable, the stage huge and 

airy. It lives up to what we have come to 

expect from Fidelio. And then some. 

From Age to Age 

Lowell Graham & Denver Brass 

Klavier K11165 

Simon: There is a majesty in the first 

piece, Ceremonial Prelude, with a sense of 

restraint, the organ making no attempt 

at being spectacular but sharing the 

stage equally with the brass orchestra. 

The piece ends with dignity, accented 

by softly-played bell tones. 

Reading the very comprehensive 

liner notes after writing this, I learned 

that Arthur Bliss composed this Ceremonial 

Prelude late in life, for the occasion 

of “a special service in 1965 to mark 

the 900 th anniversary of the founding 

of Westminster Abbey,” and that it was 

“designed to accompany the Queen from 

her entry in procession…to her Stall in 

Quire.” The music had said it all. 

The first of three movements of Age to 

Age starts with the organ calling the scattered 

crowd to attention. Vigorous brass 

and closely-miked rhythmic tambourine 

join in to send us back a few centuries to 

a Renaissance Dance. It’s a let’s-be-happyand-carefree 

type of composition you 

might easily imagine as entertainment 

for the festive and noisy banquet guests 

in the local castle hall. Romance is not 

what one might expect, however. I was 

surprised by a serene and introspective 

melody with wonderful chords from the 

trombones (which reminded me of John 

Barry’s opening score for Dances with 

Wolves). The piece is all velvet and soft 

glow. 

In contrast, the Toccata bursts with 

sunshine and exudes feelings of exaltation. 

As a practicing church organist, 

Chris Hazell has written it in the proper 

tradition, and Joseph Galema plays it 

with exuberance, carried by the bright 

voices of brass. 

I liked Natalis by Martin Ellerby a 

three-part composition — reflecting 

hope, struggle and triumph — which 

includes a passing wink at Berlioz as he 

briefly borrows a theme from the last 

movement of the Symphonie Fantastique 

(no mention of that in the liner notes, 

however, and I wonder why Ellerby did 

it). The remarkable middle section is a 

tumultuous argument between tympani 

and brass, with an ominous deep organ 

presence. Another extraordinary feat by 

Bruce Leek who recorded, edited and 

mastered this album. 

It was 1897 and Queen Victoria 

was celebrating her Diamond Jubilee 

with “the eyes of London, the British 

empire and the world on the celebrations.” 

Edward Elgar was “swept along 

by national fervor” and composed the 

next piece. If you jut out your chest and 

straighten your back at the first sound 

of a march, you’ll find his Imperial 

March very impressive in this arrangement, 

making full use of the large wind 

orchestra, organ and splendid percussion. 

In my case, unable to partake in the 

veneration of anyone by crowds, I found 

the sound merely impressive. 

It is said that this composition, 

adapted from one of Elgar’s own cantatas, 

made the composer — barely known 

for his choral works — famous overnight. 

Hmmm. Other times indeed! 

It was a delight to discover such an 

array of different compositions on this 

album. And it can be fully appreciated 

with its excellent recording quality. The 

space is huge, extending in breadth, 

height and depth. The organ has a rich 

and glowing timbre, revealing all the 

subtleties of the lowest and highest 

pipes. Nothing hinders the separation of 

the multitude of brass instruments, and 

we can easily follow the weaving of the 

different groups around the organ, a bit 

like dolphins joyfully racing alongside 

and ahead of an ocean liner. 

Philip’s Wish 

Quartet Equinox 

DIP Records 90209-2 (SACD) 

Simon: This is an interesting album by 

Dirk K, who composed all the pieces 

and plays flamenco guitar, the rest of 

the quartet featuring Andy Suzuki on 

sax, flute and bass clarinet, Dean Taba 

on upright bass and Cristiano Novelli 

on percussion. I should add that Dirk 

K (Kleutgens) is practically responsible 


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for the whole production of this SACD, 

since he also recorded and mixed the 

live sessions January 14 and 15 of 2009 

at Hyperium’s studio. It was recorded in 

DSD and includes a multichannel layer 

in 5.1 surround sound. 

And what a sound it is! Timbres are 

natural and finely detailed, rhythms 

initiated on Dirk K’s guitar are beautifully 

rendered, supported by a deep 

double bass accompaniment and striking 

percussion. Melody lines flow freely 

from guitar strings to flute, as in the 

Antagonist, the first track. It starts with 

a beautifully rich and resonant guitar 

melody, soon accented by deep percussion, 

and then a very different theme 

is introduced on the flute. No, I didn’t 

feel the tension and opposition between 

those two lines, as Dirk K alludes to 

about this piece. I perceived the themes 

as complementary, and becoming part 

of a whole as the piece progressed. (Difference 

is not always tension — my two 

cents personal comment in response to 

Dirk’s — it can also be balance.) Actually, 

as I continued, I decided to skip the 

explanations in the liner notes as to the 

original inspiration for each composition, 

and let my impressions develop 

freely. 

I liked Philip’s choice. Track 6, titled 

Philip’s Wish, is Dick K’s son’s favorite 

composition, and he wished it could 

be named after him. The flamenco 

inspiration is wonderfully present, 

with a unique contribution by bass 

clarinet and double bass, all supported 

by lightning fast and precise percussion. 

The next one, Calico Cat, is more jazz 

than flamenco, and the tenor sax has a 

predominant role through most of it. 

The last track, The Traveler, starts with 


a sudden percussion exchange, an exotic 

sounding Brazilian rhythm, and flowing 

melody lines follow smoothly between 

guitar and bass clarinet. The realism was 

such that I had the uncanny impression 

of being among the musicians. It felt as 

if I could just get up and weave my way 

through the percussion instruments. 

I must say I appreciated this album 

more as I listened to it again and again. 

No somber, brooding or melancholic 

moods here; each piece is fresh and 

bright, and rhythm is prevalent. A very 

successful blend of flamenco and jazz. 

Famous Blue Raincoat (4-LP) 

Jennifer Warnes 

Cisco CLP7060-45 

Rejskind: What a wonderful project this 

is, saving this valuable recording from 

obscurity. Perhaps you’re familiar with 

it, because it was once a staple of audio 

shows despite a lackluster pressing. The 

transition to CD pretty much killed it… 

until now. 

Some thirty years ago Jennifer 

Warnes was a successful pop singer, with 

such songs as The Right Time of the Night 

getting plenty of radio play. Her record 

company was pleased with her, but she 

longed to do something better. What 

happened to her is what has happened 

to a number of talented performers 

who signed contracts with big record 

companies: she no longer wanted to 

sing throwaway songs, but her contract 

prevented her from singing for anyone 

else. Unable to be a soloist, she sang 

backup for other artists, including… 

Leonard Cohen. In 1986 Warnes and 

Cohen did an album together, and the 

result was nothing less than magic. 

A number of well-known Cohen 

songs were on the album, including First 

We Take Manhattan, Bird on a Wire, The 

Song of Bernadette, and of course the 

title song. The remarkable Joan of Arc 

turned into a duet, with Cohen singing 

the role of the fire to Warnes’ Joan. 

Warnes actually composed the music to 

Song of Bernadette (with Bill Elliot) and 

collaborated on the text as well. 

Cisco set out to do this famous 

recording justice, turning what had been 

a single LP into a four-disc box 45 rpm 

set. It does contain some extra songs that 

were not on the original, though that 

turns out to be a mixed blessing. 

One of the “extras” is another Cohen 

song — almost a monologue — The 

Ballad of the Runaway Horse, originally 

recorded with bassist Rob Wasserman on 

the album Duets. That version may not 

have been available, since it was on the 

MCA label, and Warnes re-recorded it 

with bassist Dave Stone and (alas!) plenty 

of other musicians. More is less, in this 

case, and the new recording doesn’t hold 

a candle to the original. Also included 

is a Cohen song If It Be Your Will, and a 

somewhat superfluous concert version of 

Joan of Arc. I was disappointed that the 

album didn’t include Way Down Deep, a 

Cohen/Warnes collaboration found on 

her album The Hunter. 

The sound is generally excellent, 

with superb pressings, but noticeable 

groove noise indicates errors made in 

the cutting suite. This is an expensive 

album, which will unfortunately limit 

the copies available, and now that Cisco’s 

LP business has closed, it won’t get any 

cheaper. 

The re-release, fortunately, also 

exists on CD. It is vastly superior to the 

older CD and I recommend it warmly. 

Earl Wrightson 

Earl Wrightson/Lois Hunt 

Sony Music COL-CD-7581 

Rejskind: I ran across this disc not long 

ago, and I snapped it up, because I had 

been searching for it for years. 

The album I was especially looking 

for is titled Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits. 

Shakespeare’s plays often include songs, 

but only words, not music. They cry out 

for the right music and a voice to render 

them. Enter Dick Hyman.

Yes, that Dick Hyman, the jazz pianist 

and swing bandleader you may know 

for his several albums for Reference 

Recordings. In the early 60’s he actually 

composed music for a number of Shakespeare’s 

songs and sonnets (he repeated 

the exploit a few years later, though with 

less good results). The songs were sung 

by the wonderful operetta baritone Earl 

Wrightson, whose heroic golden tones 

bring this superb music to life. 

The mood shifts from song to song, 

no doubt as the Bard intended. Hyman 

wrote a robust, rollicking tune for It Was 

a Lover and his Lass, drawn from As You 

Like It. From Measure for Measure, the 

song Take, O Take Those Lips Away is a 

wistful ballad. Who is Sylvia from Two 

Gentlemen of Verona is set to a soaring 

melody entirely worthy of this oftquoted 

song. 

As for Wrightson, his name was once 

a household word. He was a popular 

radio star back when radio had live talent 

before its microphones, and was often 

seen on early television, singing songs 

from operettas and musical comedies. 

He starred in road show versions of Kiss 

Me Kate, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the 

Roof, and many others, His unique voice 

was perfectly suited to Dick Hyman’s 

evocative music, and of course Shakespeare’s 

immortal poetry. 

The CD however includes a second 

complete album, titled A Night With 

Rudolf Friml. Friml was a Viennese composer 

who made his career in the United 

States composing popular operettas. 

Though some of the songs sound risible 

today (Rose Marie and Indian Love Call, 

sung with his long-time companion Lois 

Hunt, are but two examples), some of the 

songs still pack a punch. Listen to the 

opening number, The Song of the Vagabonds, 

a showstopper that would surely 

have drawn an ovation. Also memorable 

is the familiar Donkey Serenade. Though 

it has often been done, surely no one has 

ever sung it like Earl Wrightson. 

I actually have this recording on a 

pretty good stereo LP, and I was pleased 

to find that the transfer to digital preserves 

the richness and power of the 

original, without annoying artifacts. 

Getting these two superb albums on 

one CD is an unexpected find. 

Z 

Yves Montand 

Christal Films 50660 

Rejskind: This year is billed as the 40th 

anniversary of this landmark film, the 

greatest political thriller of all time, 

but in fact I first saw it in 1968, when it 

existed only in its original French version. 

I attended a weeknight late show, 

with less than half the theatre full. 

When it was over, there was an ovation 

so intense and extended you would have 

thought director Costa-Gavras had been 

present. On DVD, Z has lost none of 

its power. 

The plot line will seem disquietingly 

familiar. In an unnamed country (actually 

Greece, as Costa-Gavras reveals in 

sly hints), an energetic young left-wing 

parliamentarian (Yves Montand) is 

campaigning for an election he appears 

poised to win. He is anti-military and 

especially anti-NATO, underlining that 

each time a cannon is fired an amount 

equivalent to a teacher’s annual salary 

goes up in smoke. Not surprisingly, he 

makes powerful enemies. Following a 

political rally, he dies in what is initially 

billed as a banal traffic accident, and then 

as a killing by two anti-social losers with 

radical political connections…acting 

independently, of course! 

To put this into perspective, I saw Z 

a mere three months after the assassination 

of Robert Kennedy by an anti-social 

loser acting “independently.” Like many, 

I did not then subscribe to the hypothesis 

of a high-level conspiracy in the murder 

of either Bobby or JFK. Such a plot 

would be too complex, too many people 

would have to be in on it, the secret 

couldn’t possibly be kept. The genius 

of Z is that it demonstrates how such a 

conspiracy would work. I emerged from 

the cinema shaken, convinced that the 

US had undergone not one but two coup 

d’états in a single decade. 

However there is more to Z than its 

story. Costa-Gavras, working on a small 

budget (some of it donated by one of his 

actors), did nothing less than reinvent 

cinema. The conspiracy is complex, and 

telling its story conventionally would 

have resulted in a very long film whose 

details would have been difficult to grasp, 

as they are in such later political films as 

JFK and All the President’s Men. Costa- 

Gavras telescoped his story into less than 

two hours by using editing techniques 

they warn against in film schools, such 

as jump cuts. Backstory is provided in 

flashbacks that last mere seconds, with 

little or no dialog. Amazingly it works, 

and you always know what is going on. 

The story is relentless in its intensity, 

but with a mixture of humor and tension 

that points to one of the director’s major 

influences, Alfred Hitchcock. 

This telescoping of the story results 

in great economy. After I had seen the 

film a second time (four days later), I 

realized that, in this dense and “talky,” 

scenario, there is not a word wasted. 

What seem like casual comments have 

deeper meaning, sometimes ironic, 

sometimes chilling. Even in the scene 

before the main titles, which depicts 

a boring lecture on agriculture, you 

shouldn’t miss a word. You should also 


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remember the faces, because you will be Rejskind: I reviewed the original DVD But in fact there’s more. The film’s 

seeing them again. 

vision of this superb film in UHF No. 72, second Oscar was for cinematography, 

The performances are remarkable. but the new Blu-ray release is worth a and of course the higher definition of 

Aside from Montand, Jean-Louis Trin- second visit. 

Blu-ray enhances it too. The images are 

tignant is brilliant as the juge d’instruction The full title is Master and Com- not notably razor-sharp, because there 

(the investigating prosecutor) who mander: the Far Side of the World, and is a lot of fog, and some scenes are set in 

gradually unravels the plot. Greek it is based on just one of a series of the dimly-lit bowels of the ship. However 

actress Irene Pappas, as the wife of the popular cult novels by Patrick O’Brian. what the images lack in sharp delineation 

murdered politician, gets little dialog, The film was so highly praised when it they gain in nuances, and the differences 

but watch How her in the the silent scene electronic when was released, eight version years ago, that works 

it was are considerable. A rolling patch of fog in 

she is left alone in the hotel room her widely assumed it would be but the first the foreground, which looks just fine on 

late husband We had don’t occupied. mean this version, because of O’Brian’s you already novels know to be how transported it works. to It’s the a PDF, DVD, turns out to have several layers 

The and film you is based open it on with the Adobe almost reader, the etc. screen. Hasn’t happened. 

on the Blu-ray disc, and indeed I found 

unreadable novel But we by also Vassili have Vassilikos, a paid electronic Which version, is which really too is complete, bad, because without it’s a banners myself like wondering how it was done. The 

also titled this Z, inspired one, or articles by the 1963 in fluent murder gibberish. great story, and it was made into a terrific result, with a large, high-quality screen, 

of Gregoris That Lambrakis. one, because Since it the is complete, film film has by to director be ordered Peter with Weir. a credit Some card. fans To is open an engrossing experience few films can 

does not it, explicitly you also mention have to download Greece (it a plugin of the for novels your copy were of displeased Adobe Reader because or Acrobat. match. 

was actually You’ll shot receive in Algeria), a user name Costa- and password Weir took to allow considerable you to download liberties with your the full copy I stand of by my earlier review, however. 

Gavras has the magazine. taken liberties You’ll need with the the same story. user The name French and password privateer Acheron, the first time for you The open DVD version, now available at a 

chronology, the magazine and particularly on your with computer, the but instance, only the occupies first time. a central After role that, in it works the bargain like any price, is about as good as DVD 

ending. But other of PDF. course Shakespeare did film, but isn’t in the novel at all. can get. If your home theatre system 

this too, and For the details, inventions visit are our used Electronic in Edition The “master page. To and buy commander” an issue or subscribe, is includes visit Blu-ray, however, don’t miss 

the pursuit MagZee. 

of a greater dramatic truth. Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe), captain this quality re-release. 

Z caused much unease in political of the British navy ship Surprise. Ste- It will tide us over until, perhaps, 

circles when it was first released, and phen Maturin (Paul Bettany) is the another of the novels arrives on the 

perhaps for that reason it did not get ship doctor, and he and Aubrey are old screen. 

the credit it deserved. It did glean the friends. During rare off-duty time, they 

Oscar for best foreign film, but not the even pull out their instruments (the 

best picture award for which it was also cello and the violin) and play a little 

nominated. I was then convinced that, Bach. However Aubrey is very much 

half a century later, Z would be studied the military man, while Maturin is an 

by students of film frame by frame. It amateur naturalist. When the Surprise 

still may be, though I suspect that some sails near the Galapagos islands, you can 

close to the centres of power wish the well imagine that fighting is not the first 

film would simply disappear. 

thing on his mind. 

Their nemesis, in the film but not in 

the novel, is the Acheron, a French privateer, 

whose guns have a much longer 

reach. Thus outmatched, the Surprise 

will survive only through the military 

tactics of its master and commander. 

The film earned one of its two Oscars 

for sound editing, and the multi-dimensional 

soundtrack is a wonder. In a scene 

near the start of the film, we see the flash 

of a cannon from the fog-enshrouded How the West Was Won (Blu-ray) 

corsair ship, and the cannonball goes All-star cast 

through the listening room, with a MGM 8392903497 

realistic splintering of wood. Excellent Rejskind: As our home theatre screens 

though it was on the original DVD, grow ever larger commercial movie 

it has even more depth and realism in screens are shrinking. Even IMAX is no 

the Blu-ray release. The rear channels longer a guarantee of screen real estate, 

are used extensively to make us feel as since some new “IMAX” cinemas have 

though we are really aboard a wooden screens scarcely bigger than those of a 

Master and Commander (Blu-ray) ship, with the creaking of its hull and multiplex, equipped with digital projec- 

Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany 

the solid footsteps on the upper deck. tors not wildly unlike one you might 

20th Century Fox 2243554 

It’s worth picking up if only for that. have at home. And so we look back with 


awe at the biggest, widest-screen system 

of all time, Cinerama, 

Like IMAX today, Cinerama was 

ultimately watered down to a shadow 

of what it had been, supposedly because 

moviegoers wouldn’t be able to tell 

the difference, but at its peak it was 

an adrenaline rush. Three cameras 

arranged in a near-semicircle, captured 

a huge image, which was then thrown 

by three projectors onto a deeply-curved 

screen that spanned an awesome 146º. 

Unlike 3-D, which also flourished in the 

early 50’s, Cinerama required no glasses, 

only a stout heart. 

Cinerama films did not translate well 

to a more conventional format, such as 

CinemaScope, and for that reason no 

doubt, the three-camera process was 

used almost entirely for travelogue 

features. Only two dramatic films were 

ever made in “real” Cinerama, and this 

is the more famous of the two. 

How the West Was Won is an epic 

Western, a multi-generational tale made 

by three different directors (John Ford 

among them) as well as an all-star cast: 

Debbie Reynolds, Richard Widmark, 

John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Gregory 

Peck, Raymond Massey (as Abe Lincoln 

if you can believe it), Thelma Ritter and 

so many more. Not all are well cast — 

Jimmy Stewart is as wrong as he can be 

as a supposedly young trapper courting 

Carroll Baker, and Andy Devine’s 

distinctive voice makes you jump when 

you hear it, though not for the right 

reason. To say that the script is historically 

flawed would be too kind, because 

it makes Roy Rogers films look like BBC 

documentaries. It is dispiriting to think 

that this ridiculous scenario actually won 

an Oscar, and that the whole movie got 

a Best Picture nomination. 

You won’t be surprised to hear that 

Native Americans are treated with the 

casual racism we once took for granted. 

The Cheyenne are understandably put 

off that railroad crews, moving onto 

their land, include buffalo hunters, but 

their concerns are dismissed in the usual 

Hollywood fashion: every rifle shot 

means another injun bites the dust (the 

Indians are badly outmatched, since even 

in the second half of the 19th Indians, who were experts at falling off makes everything look convex, and the 

horses without getting hurt, and thus image itself occupies only a narrow band 

picked up a few dollars while participat- across an HDTV screen. The Smilebox 

ing in their own dehumanization. process maps the three-image Cinerama 

Once you get past that — if you picture digitally across a virtual curved 

can — there’s a lot to like in the film. screen, to undo the unnatural convex 

There are some poignant scenes, and 

Get the complete spectacular ones version 

as well. And it’s fas- 

curvature and to use more of the screen 

real estate. In the images above, you can 

cinating to see so many of the great see both versions. 

No, this free version is not 

Hollywood 

complete, though 

stars in 

you 

what 

could 

are, 

spend 

for most 

a couple 

The Smilebox process has not been 

of hours reading it. Want the 

moviegoers, 

full version? 

unfamiliar roles. 

universally praised, but I thought it 

You can, of course, order the 

For 

print 

the 

version, 

original 

which 

audience, 

we have 

of course, 

published 

added a good deal to the experience. 

for a quarter of a century. You 

there 

can get 

was 

it from 

Cinerama 

our back 

itself. 

issues 

I’m 

page. 

old Certainly the image perspective is much 

But we also have a paid electronic 

enough to 

version, 

have seen 

which 

several 

is just 

Cinerama 

like this one, 

better than on the conventional CD. I 

except that it doesn’t have annoying 

productions, 

banners 

including 

like this 

the 

one, 

original 

and it 

This 

doesn’t 

discovered that if one sits quite close to 

have articles tailing off into faux 

is Cinerama, 

Latin. Getting 

though 

the 

not 

electronic 

this one. I admit 

version is 

the 

of 

screen (the Blu-ray image is so sharp 

course faster, and it is also cheaper. 

to having 

It costs 

been 

just 

a fan. 

$4.30 

How 

(Canadian) 

much of the 

anywhere 

that this is actually doable), some of the 

in the world. Taxes, if they are 

film’s 

applicable, 

original 

are 

impact 

included. 

remains in the new Cinerama impact does come across. The 


re-release? 

reason: the deeply curved screen was 

In the conventional DVD version, intended to add realism by engaging the 

not much. However the Blu-ray ver- viewer’s peripheral vision. Only if the 

sion includes a disc with an alternative screen fills your field of vision can you 

version, intended to give at least a hint reproduce that giddy feeling of being in 

of what Cinerama was all about. The the scene. 

system is called Smilebox, not to be con- The re-release of this film is recomfused 

with the photo and video sharing mended if you have a Blu-ray player 

Century software of the same name. The original and a large and very good HDTV. For 

they are shown using spears and arrows, Cinerama screen was so wide (2.89:1) everyone else it’s pretty much a waste of 

not rifles). The film did create work for and deeply curved that a “flat” depiction time. 


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The Glass CD 

There is a major sonic difference, with 

the Crystal CD sounding markedly 

superior in every way. 

In dynamics, notably, though several 

Any record producer who cares 

of the pieces on the conventional 

about the quality of audio 

disc were not exactly lackluster. 

production will tell you the 

Pianist Akiko Grace and her 

same thing: there’s a big 

bassist play Delancey Street 

difference between the sound of 

Blues with a verve and 

the digital master recording 

an energy that made it 

that is sent to the pressing 

difficult to believe we 

plant, and the stamped 

were listening to a Red 

polycarbonate discs 

Book CD. Another jazz 

that come back from 

trio, on track 11, had us 

the plant. Indeed, 

exclaiming. Soprano 

va r iat ions f rom 

Hiroko Kouda, singing 

plant to plant, or 

Mozart’s Allelulia from 

even batch to batch, 

the Exultate Jubilate, was 

are often cited. 

as smooth as one could 

That may puzzle 

wish, with a natural sheen 

anyone who feels 

that is definitely not a CD 

secure in the belief 

artifact. Minoko Honda’s haunting 

that “bits are bits,” and 

version of Amazing Grace may not have 

there should be no such 

been a purist natural recording, but on 

analog-like variations. In 

the glass CD her voice seemed to pick 

actual fact, the Compact Disc 

is an analog medium. That is to 

up an extra dimension. 

Why a free version? There were some disappointments, 

say, though the information on the disc 

is digital, it is stored in analog form 

because analog is so much more compact. 

For example, it is more economical to 

express how many “zeros” will go by 

before the next “one” than to record all 

those zeros individually. The number of 

zeros will be represented by the length of 

a pit in the disc surface…and that length 

is an analog value. 

Is there a better way to press a CD? 

A Japanese recording organization, 

Memory-Tech, thinks it has found one: 

glass CDs. Instead of injection-molding 

polycarbonate, the company uses a precision 

metal stamper 

In the diagram at right, resin is 

Memory-Tech had inevitably, the fault of the original 

sent us For an years early now, demo, we have with been musical publishing, engineers on our rather Web site, than a the free Crystal PDF CD 

selections version of pressed our magazine. on conventional CD technology. 

and on The a Memory-Tech reason is simple. Crystal We know CD. you’re looking Although for the information, music samples and are from 

There that is was almost a considerable certainly why difference, you’ve come “Columbia to visit our Music site. And Entertainment” that’s why (actu- 

but we we give complained away what that some neither competitors actually consider ally Denon, to be a not startlingly Sony Music), large you won’t 

sounded amount good. of information…for We have since free. received see any mainstream company adopting 

new samples, We would and give the it all news away is for good. free, if the we could Crystal still CD stay process, in business. because it has 

Recent figures indicate that each issue some is getting obvious downloaded drawback. One as many drawback 

as 100,000 Glass times, substrate and that figure keeps growing. is weight. A Crystal Disc weighs 32 g, 

Yes, we know, if we had a nickel for each exactly download… double the weight of a polycar- 

Truth is, we’re in the business of helping bonate you CD. enjoy That music translates at home into added 

under the best Metal possible stamper conditions. And shipping movies too. cost. We’ll Glass do breaks, what we too. need Then 

to do in order to get the information to there you. 

Glass substrate 

is cost. Making one is a time- 

Of course, Resin we also want you to read our consuming published process: editions taking too. We perhaps five 

hope that, having read this far, you’ll want minutes to read per on. 

disc as opposed to under five 

Metal stamper 

seconds. The company says it can turn 

sandwiched between the metal stamper 

(already pitted to represent the music) 

Gold layer 

out 300 discs a day at present. Memory- 

Tech will charge you 100,000 Yen (about 

and the glass substrate. They are pressed 

together to bond, while ultraviolet light 

cures the resin. The disc is now inverted, 

and a thin layer of gold is applied to the 

Gold layer 

Resin 


Protective layer Label 

C$1230) just to make the metal stamper 

which is at the heart of the technology. 

That doesn’t sound so bad, as long as the 

actual price per disc is affordable. In fact 

resin. A protective sheet is added, and 

it’s 21,000¥, about C$230 per disc! 

once more cured by UV, and finally the 

Resin 

Is that way beyond the means of the 

label is applied. 


market? Well, duh! But then again per- 


Gossip&News

haps not. Memory-Tech itself markets 

calibration discs, and paying that kind of 

money for an industrial product is by no 

means outlandish. If you exhibit at hi-fi 

shows, you could do worse than one of 

these. 

But can the audiophile recording 

market bear such costs? Our guess is 

that it can’t, but perhaps that price is not 

fixed in glass, as it were. Wider adoption 

would certainly drop the price. 

The Crystal Disc adds no new information, 

unlike SACD, say. What it can 

do, potentially, is avoid the tremendous 

deterioration of the music encountered 

in the pressing process. It requires 

no special player. If the price can be 

improved enough, this could be the CD 

counterpart to 180-gram vinyl. 

Want your next music release on 

glass? Visit the Memory-Tech Web site: 

www.memory-tech.co.jp/eng/ 

The site doesn’t include anything 

about the Crystal Disc, but contact 

information is there. Let us know how 

it works for you. 

Klipsch Sells 

Aragon 

Who? Oh, so soon we forget! Aragon 

used to make some pretty well-regarded 

high end amplifiers and preamplifiers 

under the Aragon name, with Acurus 

as its (relatively) low-priced line. Now 

do you place them? This is the Aragon 

StageOne. 

A number of companies the size of 

Mondial Designs (the original parent 

corporate name) didn’t survive even the 

bursting of the dot-com bubble, never 

mind this year’s financial demolition 

derby. Mondial Designs folded in 2001, 

and the Aragon and Acurus names and 

intellectual property were snapped up by 

Klipsch, which seemed to be in a buying 

mood at the time. 

Need we mention that the mood at 

most companies has changed? Slashing 

and burning is more the trend now. 

Klipsch had shut down production 

four years ago, keeping the brand in 

“maintenance mode,” supplying parts 

and repairs, mostly. Now, improbably, 

it has found a buyer. 

And it didn’t have to look far from 

home. Two of its own engineers, Rick 

Santiago and Ted Moore, have left 

Klipsch in order to set up Indy Audio 

Labs LLC and take over design and 

production of Aragon and Acurus elec- 

tronics. It takes over support of legacy 

products immediately, and the new 

designs are expected in early 2010. 

By the way, the name “Indy” means 

more than the fact that the new company 

is independent. Its plant is located in 

Indianapolis, Indiana. We’re not sure, 

though, that the word “plant” is appropriate. 

The Indy site says that the name 

“Acurus” means Accuracy, designed in the 

US. Notice that it says “designed,” not 

“built.” 

We’re just saying. 

The UHF Reference Systems 

Equipment reviews are done on at least one of 

UHF’s reference systems, selected as working 

tools. They are changed as infrequently as 

possible. 

The Alpha system 

Our original reference is in a room with special 

acoustics, originally a recording studio, letting 

us hear what we can’t hear elsewhere. 

Main digital player: Linn Unidisk 1.1 

Additional CD player: CEC TL-51X 

belt-driven transport, Counterpoint 

DA-10A converter with HDCD card. 

Digital cable: Atlas Opus 1.5m 

Digital portable: Apple iPod 60 Gb 

Turntable: Audiomeca J-1 

Tone arm: Audiomeca SL-5 

Pickup: Goldring Excel 

Phono preamp: Audiomat Phono 1.6 

Preamplifier: Copland CTA-305 

Power amplifier: Simaudio Moon W-5LE 

Loudspeakers: Living Voice Avatar 

OBX-R 

Interconnects: Pierre Gabriel ML-1, 

Atlas Navigator All-Cu 

Loudspeaker cables: Atlas Mavros with 

WBT nextgen banana connectors 

Power cords: Gutwire, Wireworld Aurora 

AC filters: Foundation Research LC-2 

(power amp), Inouye SPLC. 

The Omega system 

It serves for reviews of gear that cannot easily 

fit into the Alpha system, with its small room. 

Digital players: shared with the Alpha 

system 

Turntable: Linn LP12/Lingo II 

Tone arm: Alphason HR-100S MCS 

Pickup: London Reference 

Phono preamp: Audiomat Phono 1.6 

Preamplifier: Simaudio Moon P-8 

Power amplifier: Simaudio Moon W-8 

Loudspeakers: Reference 3a Suprema II 

Interconnects: Pierre Gabriel ML-1, 

Atlas Navigator All-Cu 

Loudspeaker cables: Pierre Gabriel ML- 

1 for most of the range, Wireworld Polaris 

for the twin subwoofers. 

Power cords: BIS Audio Maestro, 

GutWire B-12, Wireworld 

AC filters: GutWire MaxCon Squared, 

Foundation Research LC-1 

Acoustics: Gershman Acoustic Art panels 

The Kappa system 

This is our home theatre system. As with the 

original Alpha system, we had limited space, 

and that pretty much ruled out huge projectors 

and two-metre screens. We did, however, 

finally come up with a system whose performance 

gladdens both eye and ear, with the 

needed resolution for reviews. 

HDTV monitor: Samsung PN50A550 

plasma screen 

DVD player (provisional): Pioneer BDP- 

51FD Blu-Ray player 

Preamplifier/processor: Simaudio Moon 

Attraction, 5.1 channel version 

Power amplifiers: Simaudio Moon W-3 

(main speakers), bridged Celeste 4070se 

(centre speaker), Robertson 4010 (rear) 

Main speakers: Energy Reference Connoisseur 

(1984) 

Centre speaker: Thiel MCS1 

Rear speakers: Elipson 1400 

Subwoofer: 3a Design Acoustics 

Cables: Atlas, Van den Hul, MIT, 

GutWire, Wireworld 

Line filter: GutWire MaxCon Squared 

All three systems have dedicated power lines, 

with Hubbell hospital grade outlets. Extensions 

and power bars are equipped with hospitalgrade 

connectors. 


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Sing It, Anne 

That’s Anne Bisson, sitting at 

the keyboard, singing songs 

from her new album, Blue 

Mind. Technically it’s her 

second album, but the first one came out 

a long time ago, and in the meantime she 

carved out a solid career as a TV host. 

And she does more than sing. The 

songs on this album are her own. 

Though she is francophone, all of the 

songs on the album are in English 

(an earlier song, on a sampler, was in 

German). The music, also her own, is 

inventive, veering in the direction of 

jazz. And the words… 

We first met Anne last November at 

the inauguration of producer/musician 

Guy St-Onge’s new mastering facility 

north of Montreal (see Gossip&News 

in UHF No. 86). It was in St-Onge’s 

beautiful lakeside studio that she had sat 

down at the piano, along with her bassist 

and percussionist, who were careful 


to leave the road clear for the lyrics. In 

November Anne was champing at the bit 

for her recording to be released, but her 

recording label, Fidelio, wisely waited, 

unwilling to let her be washed away 

in a tidal wave of superstar recordings 

that were being released in time for 

Christmas. 

You may have noticed the large Sonus 

Faber loudspeaker behind her in the 

picture above. The album launch party 

was held in a hi-fi store, the Filtronique/ 

Son Or complex in Montreal. After she 

had finished singing, the party guests 

were invited upstairs in groups in order 

to hear three different versions of one of 

the songs: the original high-resolution 

master recording, the commercial CD, 

and a test pressing of the LP version. 

Was there a difference? Need we 

underline it? The master recording was 

particularly lively, as one would expect, 

and a small majority of visitors in the 

first group voted for it. The LP did only 

slightly less well, and the CD brought up 

the rear, garnering just two votes. One of 

those voting for the CD had found the 

master and the LP to be overwhelming, 

and he himself preferred to use music as 

a pleasant background. Enough said! 

As already indicated, Anne Bisson 

doesn’t do jazz standards. These are 

original songs, meant to be listened to. 

Check out Do What You Please, September 

in Montreal, and especially Secret 

Survivor. 

For Anne Bisson, this new recording 

may be the beginning of a long-delayed 

career as a singer-songwriter and as a 

performer.

Protecting the Goodies 

If a store sells iPods, you’ll see a 

whole wall of iPod cases next to 

them. Actually, even if it sells 

iRivers and Zunes, you’ll still see a 

whole wall full of iPod cases. 

By and large we’re not keen on any 

of the cases for iPods, or for iPhones, 

Blackberries or other portable electronic 

devices. The engineers at Apple 

or RIM burn the midnight oil to make 

their products small, thin and light, so 

why would you put it into a case that 

will double its weight and triple its 

thickness? 

The alternative is of course a slip 

case, with a loop to fit a belt or a purse 

strap, from which you can easily extirpate 

your device when you need it. But 

there may be instances where you need 

something a little more rugged. 

Several of us do own iPods: a couple 

of nanos, an older iPod Photo (which 

seems risibly large and heavy today), and, 

the best sounding player we’ve heard yet, 

an iPod touch. The most serious cases 

for portable gear we have seen are from 

a company called OtterBox. 

It offers two series of cases, one of 

them more interesting than the other, 

as it turned out. 

The Defender case (US$29.95) is 

designed to give moderate protection 

from rough handling, but we were less 

than enthusiastic. It’s large and bulky, 

and yet it offers limited protection. In 

the top photo our iPod touch is shown 

in a Defender case. It slips into a belt 

pouch of rigid plastic, so you’ll have lots 

of weight on your belt. 

We should add that Otter sent us the 

wrong case, and although it did fit, our 

iPod was not fully operable once in the 

case. Still, the fit was good enough to 

give us an idea of what it offers, which is 

not enough considering the bulk it adds 

to the sleek iPod. 

Otter then sent us one of its Armor 

cases (US$49.95), shown in the central 

photo, and we were a lot more 

impressed. 

For one thing it’s waterproof, not just 

humidity resistant, down to a claimed 

depth of one metre (enough for snorkel- 

ing, though certainly not scuba diving). 

For instance, rather than having just a 

hole for the headphone plug, it has an 

internal plug that fits the iPod’s jack, 

and leads to an external jack (see the 

bottom photo). The jack is made extra 

tight, Otter says, so that the plug can’t 

easily get pulled out during strenuous 

exercise. 

Contrary to the Defender case, the 

Armor case offers only limited functionality 

for the iPod touch. The big grey 

button below the screen works very well 

to actuate the iPod touch’s home button, 

but the on/off button — the one at top 

left — is not accessible. That means that 

while the iPod is in the case you can’t 

turn it off. Of course it will turn itself 

off unless you’ve set the preferences 

otherwise, and if you are using it for 

music it will go on playing even when the 

screen goes dark. The plastic membrane 

covering the screen gives quite good visibility, 

though it is dimmer than with the 

Defender case, and it transmits touches 

just fine, though you need to press a little 

harder. 

Once the unit is in the case there’s no 

access to the charging plug, but where 

this case goes you’re not likely to be 

needing access to it. 

Be aware that each of these cases is 

made to fit a particular model. We were 

sent one for the first generation iPod 

touch because that’s what we have. It’s 

now discontinued, and the version for 

the second generation is somewhat different, 

more contoured, less squarish, 

though with the same functionality. If 

you buy a new model, you’ll also need 

to buy a new case. 

The back of the OtterBox includes 

a rather formidable belt clip, which is 

removable. A lanyard is also supplied. 

We maintain that, for everyday use, 

a soft slip case is the best choice, and 

lets you handle the product the way 

Steve Jobs or Jim Balsillie intended. But 

for the beach, for skiing, for camping, 

or anywhere you and it are exposed to 

the elements, the OtterBox Armor case 

is just the ticket. We recommend it 

highly. 


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LEDs at Samsung 

did get our guided tour of the 

huge Samsung “city” in Vegas, 

but the company made it up to 

us…by trundling their products up to 

the Mont-Trembland ski resort, north 

of Montreal. We got to see it all: DVD 

players, cameras, refrigerators and 

washing machines. Naturally it was 

the TV sets that particularly held our 

attention, especially since in fact we 

have a Samsung plasma in our Kappa 

reference system. 

Gossip&News For logistical reasons we never 

It was easy enough to confirm that 

the Samsung plasmas remain among 

the top plasmas available, even more so 

with Pioneer pulling out of the race. The 

main visual difference since we bought 

ours in 2008 is the “Touch of Color” 

feature, a subtle color strip (usually red, 


though it can be other colors, including 

grey), which had concerned us. When we 

watch TV we’re not keen on the bezel 

competing with the picture. Happily, 

the color strip is subtle. 

The other touch of color is green: 

Samsung claims it has made its plasma 

panels less hungry for energy, and at 

the same time it has greatly increased 

the dynamic range, making for even 

blacker blacks. Well, we’re all for both 

of those advantages, but how is it done? 

It’s done by actually turning off parts of 

the panel which should be 

black. This may not be a 

good thing. Our Samsung 

plasma already offers what 

is billed as a million-toone 

luminance ratio, but 

to get it you need to dial 

in the appropriate settings, 

and those aren’t settings 

that will please anyone who 

wants to forget that he or 

she is watching a television 

picture. 

Of course you know that we favor 

plasma among currently-available large 

screen panel technologies. Nonetheless, 

we must confess to being impressed by 

a new LCD line from Samsung. Instead 

of being backlit by a fluorescent bulb, it 

is lit by an array of LEDs, light-emitting 

diodes. Unlike fluorescents, LEDs 

have a continuous spectrum, and can 

produce a larger and better range of 

colors. Certainly the sets we saw (which 

Samsung refers to as “LED TV’s,” 

though LEDs are only the light source) 

were impressive. Fast motion was well 

accommodated, without smearing or 

trailing images. And the color range, as 

nearly as we could tell on the material 

used for demonstrations, was broader 

than we can recall on an LCD panel. 

Like the Samsung plasmas, by the 

way, the LED sets love to show off reds. 

Appropriately enough, a Ferrari kept 

popping up in the demos. 

What about the blacks? LCD’s are 

not strong on those, because a liquid 

crystal pixel can never be truly opaque, 

The demo sets were set up in a brightlylit 

room, and so it was difficult to tell. 

There were new Samsung Blu-ray 

players as well, including one that can 

mount right in the wall next to your wallmounted 

TV. We asked about reviewing 

one, but none was made available in 

time (we wound up reviewing 

and indeed purchasing a Pioneer player 

instead — you’ll find that review elsewhere 

in this issue). 

This not-so-little expo among the ski 

hills was a reminder of how much stuff 

Samsung makes: not just TVs and other 

audiovisual gear, but also music players, 

camcorders, still cameras, refrigerators, 

and even washers and dryers. All these 

products were trucked in and installed 

for us to see. 

Definitely worth the trip.

How’s Blu-ray 

Coming Along? 

It has now been more than a year 

since Toshiba waved the white flag 

and shut down its HD DVD project, 

leaving the way clear for Blu-ray. 

Since then the prices of Blu-ray players 

have dropped, but has that been enough? 

Perhaps not, because the price 

premium for Blu-ray discs remained 

high. We have been convinced that it 

is the disc price that matters, not the 

player price. And a strange thing has 

happened since Blu-ray was launched. 

Conventional DVD prices have fallen 

off a cliff, making the difference even 

more evident. Are you going to pay $30 

for the Blu-ray version of a film you can 

now buy for $8.99? 

And there’s been this little…uh, 

glitch in the economy. 

An outfit unknown to us called 

Adams Media Research says that some 

9 million Blu-ray discs have been sold so 

far. The figure a year ago was 4.8 million. 

We don’t know whether those are 

worldwide figures, but these researchers 

are not in the habit of crossing borders. 

Also not known is whether those are 

sales to stores or to actual consumers. 

The report also says that there are 

10.6 million “Blu-ray households.” Wait 

a minute…you mean there are more Bluray 

households than discs sold??? Does 

anybody at Adams think that perhaps, 

just perhaps, that could require some 

explanation? 

Let us hazard our own guess. The 

reason is probably that a lot of those 

Blu-ray players are actually Sony PSP 

game consoles, whose owners often don’t 

know what Blu-ray is, and who certainly 

aren’t about to pick up a Blu-ray movie 

instead of a copy of Grand Theft Auto 

XXVI. 

In the meantime Blu-ray gets badmouthed 

all over the Internet by the “what 

the hell, it’s good enough” crowd, who talk 

up fake high-res downloadable movies. 

But we have seen some Blu-ray films, 

including some blockbusters, drop 

sharply in price. Quantum of Solace, the 

new James Bond flick, in its Blu-ray 

incarnation, was $29, but within days 

soared to $33. Then we saw it on line 

for $18. Yes, all those amounts are in 

Canadian dollars. 

A shift is about to come, we think. 

There has been an explosion in the 

range of films being burned to Blu-ray, 

and they’re getting more space on the 

shelves. They’re even properly alphabetized 

instead of being jammed into a rack. 

Watch for falling prices. 

Canada Blacklisted 

on Copyright 

It appears that the Obama administration 

is cozy with the music and 

film industry. In April US Vicepresident 

Joe Biden told industry 

spokespeople he favors more action 

to deter theft of intellectual content, 

singling out Canada. 

An ill-fated bill proposed last year 

provided a $20,000 fine for copying a 

movie even for private use. In Canada 

it is still legal to copy a CD or DVD, 

for yourself. Now the United States has 

blacklisted us for our “lax stance” on 

copyright violations, along with Algeria, 

China, Russia and Indonesia. 

More than 10 years ago Canada and 

many of the world’s other countries 

signed two treaties promising to bring 

intellectual property protection “into the 

digital age.” According to the critics (and 

we’re among them), that means preventing 

anyone from doing anything. Indeed, 

the US Digital Millennium Copyright 

Act is so stringent it is widely ignored, 

though some randomly-chosen citizens 

get their lives ruined because of it. 

Canada is a signatory to the WIPO 

treaties. New legislation was proposed 

on two occasions, but died before being 

enacted. Now, with a fragile minority 

government in place, and with the 

economy bleeding, it seems the wrong 

time to threaten consumers with jail or 

financial ruin. 

ADVERTISERS 

Allnic . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Cover 2, 9 

Audiophileboutique.com . . . . Cover 3 

Audio Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

Audiophile Store . . . . . . . . . . 55-62 

Audio Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Audio Zendo . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 3 

BIS Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 

Blue Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Charisma Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 

Codell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

Cyrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 

Diamond Groove . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

Divergent Technologies . . . . . . . . 43 

Entre’acte . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 

ETI (Eichmann) . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 

Europroducts International . 13, 16, 17 

Hammertone Audio . . . . . .Cover 2, 9 

Lavardin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 

Leema Acoustics . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 

MagZee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 

Marchand Electronics. . . . . . . . . 10 

Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

Mutine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 3 

Reference 3a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 

Simaudio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 

UHF Back Issues . . . . . . . . . . . 34 

UHF Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 


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Does your music system 

finally sound the way you 

had hoped? Congratulations 

if the answer is yes. Now you 

can leave it the way it is and turn your 

attention elsewhere. 

Or maybe not. Is anything ever so 

good that it couldn’t be better yet? As 

Robert Browning famously said, a man’s 

reach should exceed his grasp, else what’s 

a Heaven for? 

So yes, you’re going to upgrade your 

system, since otherwise you wouldn’t 

be reading this, but in what fashion? It 

depends on how satisfied you are with 

what you hear. If you are, look in one 

direction, but if you’re not… 

Over my years at the helm of UHF, 

I’ve seen literally thousands of letters 

from audiophiles who were more or less 

satisfied with the sound of their systems, 

but who in any case wanted advice on 

how to improve them. Or fix them. Different 

problems, different solutions. 

The philosophy of this magazine 

has remained steady over the years. 

Whether a music system is capable of 

thundering bass, liquid midrange or 

light, sparkling highs, it must above all 

get the music right. The melody should 

be easy to follow. Rhythm should be 

communicative. In a good recording, 

harmony should give you at least a small 

case of goosebumps. Words should be 

intelligible. I need hardly add that the 

system should not annoy you in any 

way. 

That looks like a pretty tough list, 

and certainly there is no inexpensive 

mid-fi system in existence that can give 

you even half of it. However there are 

well-chosen entry-level systems that can 

give you most of it, perhaps even all of it. 

Such a system need not cost a fortune, 

perhaps $3000 or $4000, or about the 

price of the decor group on a mid-sized 

car. It can be improved, to be sure, and 

we’re here to help with that. 

But perhaps you’re not at all happy 

with your system, even if you’ve spent 

a lot more money than the strict minimum. 

Perhaps it puts you to sleep, 

or — this is a lot worse — it hurts your 


State of the Art 


ears. Perhaps you can’t figure out what 

anyone is singing, or what instruments 

you’re hearing. One symptom of serious 

trouble: you search through your music 

collection, and you can’t find anything 

that tempts you. Oops! 

If you’ve already spent a lot on your 

system, you may go into panic mode. 

Perhaps a new interconnect cable is what 

you need. How about that power filter 

you’ve read about? A $600 power cord 

should make things better, shouldn’t 

it? Is it true that silver bullets can stop 

werewolves? Please, doctor, anything, 

only make it stop hurting! 

Those are the worst conditions for 

making a decision. Werewolves are 

found only in books and movies, and 

there is no silver bullet for hi-fi. However 

the potential for wasting money is huge, 

and money ill spent can make a system 

worse rather than better. 

We suggest starting with measures 

that are free, or at least inexpensive. 

Repositioning the speakers is such a 

measure, and you’d be surprised how 

much difference even a small change in 

placement can make. 

STATE OF THE ART: 

THE BOOK 

Get the 258-page book 

containing the State of the Art 

columns from the first 60 issues 

of UHF, with all-new introductions. 

See page 6. 

And placement is just one aspect of 

room acoustics, as you no doubt know. 

You can considerably improve your 

room by adding materials (Paul Bergman 

wrote an entire series on this topic 

in issues No. 77 through 85), and these 

are not necessarily expensive. Some 

affordable changes can be good enough 

to let you know you’re going in the right 

direction. That will encourage you to 

proceed cautiously, confident that you’re 

not travelling the wrong way on a oneway 

street. Also remember basic maintenance, 

such as cleaning connectors. 

A good dealer can be of great help. 

Perhaps you suspect your CD player of 

being at the origin on the pain in your 

ears. Pack it carefully, and make an 

appointment with the dealer to go and 

hear it in the showroom (don’t just drop 

in unannounced if you want to stay on 

good terms). Of course the associated 

equipment and the acoustics will not 

be the same as at home, but the session 

may possibly answer one key question: 

can this player be made to sound good? 

If it can, then it isn’t the leading cause 

of what’s bothering you. 

Of course, a friend who also owns a 

high end system can fill that role too. 

What’s important is not to start 

throwing money at a problem without 

knowing what the problem is. With a 

few exceptions, gear from competent 

manufacturers can be made to sound at 

least pretty good, which is to say reasonably 

revealing and not annoying. Perhaps 

your player or your amp was not a good 

choice, but that doesn’t make it the sole 

cause of your woes. 

What you need to do, with the help 

of your own ears, a friendly dealer, and 

of course UHF, is getting your existing 

system to sound at least reasonable. It 

may not be as revealing as you like, but 

it shouldn’t be opaque to music values, 

and it definitely shouldn’t be painful to 

listen to. At that point, you can move 

forward again. 

But if you’re hoping for a silver bullet, 

you will in fact be firing a lot of expensive 

buckshot at a target you can’t see. Fix the 

worst stuff first.

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New, with one-year North American warranty 

Shipped from points in either Canada or 

USA. Billed in Canadian dollars, equivalent to stated price in 

US dollars. 

ALSO AT THE AUDIOPHILE BOUTIQUE: 

Moon phono preamplifiers, tube headphone amps, 

Thorens turntables. 

audiophileboutique.com 

a division of UHF Magazine 

contact@audiophileboutique.com 

(450) 651-5720

Why do 

UHF readers 

start reading 

their magazines 

at the back? 

Countless readers have confirmed it over the 

years: when they get their hands on the 

latest issue of UHF, they open it to the last 

page. 

The reason all of them mention: Gerard 

Rejskind’s last-page column, State of the Art. Since 

the magazine’s founding, the column has grappled 

with the major questions of high end audio. It has been 

acclaimed by readers around the world. 

Now, the columns from the first 60 issues of UHF are 

brought together into one book. Each is exactly as it was originally 

published, and each is accompanied by a new introduction. 

Order your copy today: $18.95 in Canada or the US, C$32 

elsewhere in the world, air mail included. 

What do we know about 

indoor FM and TV antennas 

that they don’t? 

A lot, it turns out. With the stampede to satellite and cable 

over the past 20 years, the design of dipole antennas has been 

left to the makers of junk. 

It was years ago that UHF designed a high-quality antenna for its 

own use. It was so good we offered it for sale as the Super Antenna, 

and saw thousands of them sold. Why? Because it’s better. 

In this, the Super Antenna’s third incarnation, we buy one of 

those trashy antennas, rip everything out until we are left 

with the rods and the case, and we rebuild it. We add our own 

high-quality transformer (can you believe the junk antenna 

didn’t even have one?), and a luxurious shielded cable with a 

24K gold plated slip-on F-connector. 

The broadband design covers the range from analog channels 2 to 69, including 

the entire FM band. And yes, it does a fine job with digital channels, including 

over-the-air HDTV. 

SEE THE SUPER ANTENNA MkIII at The Audiophile Store, page 59

THE CD PLAYER PLUS - Ultra High Fidelity Magazine

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