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Теги: electrical engineering electronics music musical instruments hi-fi news magazine hifi
Год: 2023
Текст
W W W .HIFINEW S.COM
DECEMBER 2023
• THE HOME OF REAL HI
-FI
& Record Review
o fpro d uct
Review s&
eatures
Exclusive
HEAVY ME
Burm ester’s21 8
am plif
ierbrin g s
o n th e po w er
THEU Khi
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Stun n in g so un d s a t
Asco t2023 revealed ...
hescenesa
£
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HOOK END ST U DIO _
Mo FiM asterP h o n o
M M /M C p ream p fro n T —
a h i-fim asterm in d J T —
P LU S
- — - ^ M atrijCAud iQ Elem eh tX 2 P ure,
T ra fo m atic Rh ap so d y,B& W 6 03 S3,
^ P erljsten S S f, Den o n DNP =2000NE
■1
^ S§Vin ta g e Review
B& O Beo m ister2000 receiver
OP INION 12pagesofl
etters& com m ent•VINYL RELEASE Sl
y AndTheFam il
y’sAnthol
ogyon18 0 g
U K £5.99 Aus $1 5.99
CLASSICAL COM P ANION Tchaik ovsk y TheNutcracker•VAU LT EAD andP S Au dio D AC sfrom 1992
VINYL ICON Thestory ofP etShopBoys’ Actual
ly READERS’ CLASSIFIEDS Hi-fibargainsgal
ore
1472 256271
T U RNT ABLE EX CELLENCE
m ade by audio enthusiasts for audio enthusiasts
W H A T H I-FI?
★
★
★
★
★
The SME Model 6 is a class leading integrated turntable
delivering a unique sonic performance. Audio engineering
excellence achieved with precision made parts, t echnologically
advanced materials and definitive craftsmanship.
• Natural and Dynamic Sound
• CN C Machined Chassis with Low Resonance Signature
• Advanced I solation System
• Close Tolerance Bearing and Spindle
• Sophisticated Electronics, Precise Speed Control
• Precision Tonearm designed for a w ide range of Cartridges
• Made in England Since 1946
SME has evolved from 75 years of engineering excellence,
innovation and perfection delivering a precise and pure sound.
For m ore in form at ion or t o find a dealer please co n t act SME
T: + 44 ( 0) 1903 814 321
E: sales@sm e.lt d.uk
W: w w w .sme.co.uk
VIN YL 8< RECO RD REVIEW S
3
2
R
E
B
M
E
C
E
D
N EW S AN D O PIN IO N
hrtShop Boyv *rtu*l
ly
78
21
Classical Com p an ion
Peter Quantrill explores recordings
of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.
Will it be sweet sounds all round?
A message from the editor, with a
guide to the products and features
inside this month’s 140-page issue
80 V in yl Release
22
All the funk without the junk...
Steve Sutherland hears the 180g
reissue of Sly And The Family
Stone’s Anthology LP from 1981
82
V in yl Icon
92
25
In The Stu d io
It was a hideaway for rock royalty
and saw Pink Floyd’s Final Cut split..
Steve Sutherland has the story of
Hook End Studio in Oxfordshire
4 8 M u sical Fid elity M 8xTT
With the brand in new hands the
Pro-Ject design team has sought to
bring the M1 turntable from 2004
bang up to date. Has it succeeded?
M u sic Review s
Our selection of audiophile LPs
and hi-res downloads reviewed by
our specialists alongside the latest
rock, jazz and classical albums
52
The H i-FiN ew s Pled ge
56
Bu rm ester 077/21 8
Strapping stereo pre/ power piles
on the style while delivering sound
as sumptuous as the combo’s looks
Trafom atic Rhap sod y
It’s a rhapsody in red as we listen to a
single-ended Class A tube amp from
Serbia that packs four 300B valves
Why you can trust our reviews
42
M atrix A u d io
Elem en tX2 Pu re
It’s out with the old and in with the
opulant as anniversary network DAC
ditches the headphone amp for a duo
of new ESS Sabre ES9039PRO chips
D EFIN ITIV E PRO D U CT REVIEW S
41
N ew s
NAD Master Series gains top-tier
DAC/ preamp, Mola Mola unveils
standalone phono stage, amp and
streaming CD player pairing from
Marantz, Electrocompaniet takes
wraps off new 300 M monoblock
The Pet Shop Boys’ second album
Actually took the British synth-pop
pioneers to the tops of the charts.
Johnny Sharp on how it was made...
88
W elcom e
62
Perlisten S5t
Simpler, more compact and aimed
at those with smaller rooms - we hear
the sibling to the S7t, with DPC array
66
Show b log: A scot2023 p tl
Exceptional speakers, top-notch
turntables, the best in streamers...
the UK Hi-Fi Show Live saw hi-fi’s
global heavy hitters assemble for
three days of audio excellence
1 03 O p in ion
Insider comment on audio’s hot
topics from Barry Fox, Jim Lesurf,
Peter Quantrill, Steve Harris and,
writing from the US, Barry Willis
Sou n d O ff
Replacement styli for cherished
Shure pick-ups, help me find the
right ‘digital hub’, SME deck spurs a
search for a ’50s Philips, ranking the
components in a digital replay chain
1 38 O ff The Leash
This month Ken Kessler considers
the appeal of retro-styled hi-fi. Is it
more than mere wistful nostalgia
wrapped up in a wooden sleeve?
M oFi M asterPhon o
From designer Peter Madnick comes a
phono preamp with a ‘current’ input
for low-output/ low-impedance MCs
70
B& W 603 S3
Titanium domes meet Continuum
cones as refreshed floorstander takes
the fight to the entry-level market
74
D en on D N P-2000N E
Network-attached DAC with HEOS
hopes to attract all comers seeking
a standalone streaming solution
VIN TAG E
1 20 V in tage Review
A bold blend of savvy tech and style,
the Beomaster 2000 receiver from
1975 saw B&O regain its ‘high-end’
credentials. How will it sound today?
1 26 From The V au lt
ABOVE:Rew o rked ,f
in e-tun ed an d priced to
appeal...B& W ’s603 S3 lo ud speaker,see p 7 0
It’s the dual of the DACs as we rewind
to HFN Jul ’92 where Martin Colloms
is comparing PS Audio’s Ultralink with
Enlightened Audio Designs’ DSP7000
ABOVE:W e brin g yo u a ten -pag e (p arto n e)
rep o rto n th e U K Hi-FiSh o w Live,
w h ich to o k place atth e
Asco tG ran d stan d ...
Seep 25
i
nmvpi
i
Tb
DECEMBER 2 02 3
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RIG HT :P arto f
Abso lute So un d s’
T en co llectio n o f
artisan pro d ucts,i
sth e
T raf
o m atic Rh apso d y
300B tube am p as
g lo rio us-so un d in g as it
lo o ks? See p56
ABOVE:Den o n ’sd isc players an d am plif
iers h ave lo n g n eed ed a
partn erin g n etw o rk-attach ed stream er.An d h ere iti
s,o n p 7 4
rtificialIntel
l
igence
(Al
)isgetting
its hooks into
everything from
m edicalresearch to
sel
f-driving cars and,ofcou rse,
the m u sic biz . I’ve reported
previou sl
y abou tfrau dsters u sing
generative Al
,trained on real
artists’ intel
l
ectu alproperty,to
create ‘new ’ m u sic from w hich
they profit. I
n extrem e cases
‘stream ing farm s’ w il
lthen infl
ate
au dience nu m bers for track s that
are sim pl
y noise.
So how gratifying itw as to
final
l
y hear ‘the l
astnew ’ Beatl
es
song ‘N ow AndThen’ rel
eased on
N ovem ber 1st- dem onstrating
avery positive u se ofm achine
l
earning technol
ogy. This new
track ,featu ring every m em ber
ofthe Fab Fou r w as not
an Alconstru ct,bu tavery
‘hu m an’ endeavou r. Ithas
a string section com posed
by G il
es Martin,pl
u s P au l
McC artney and Ringo
Starr al
so pl
aying ‘l
ive’,
m ixedw ith a contribu tion from
G eorge Harrison cu l
l
ed from
m aterialrecorded in 1995 and
John Lennon from tw o decades
earl
ier stil
l
.
The core sou rce m aterial
for ‘N ow AndThen’ originates
from avery raw dem o cassette
recording u nearthed by Yoko
Ono in 1994. Tw o ofthree
proto-track s,‘RealLove’ and
‘Free AsA B ird’ w ere rel
eased as
partofThe Beatl
esAnthol
ogy
proj
ectbu t‘N ow AndThen’ w as,
atthe tim e,a chal
l
enge too far.
Itw as im possibl
e to separate
the voice from the piano and
tape noise - the prevail
ing
technol
ogy w as focu sed on
de-noising rather than isol
ating
voices and instru m ents. That
changed u nder P eter Jackson’s
direction ofthe 20 21 GetBack
docu m entary w here m achine
l
earning softw are w as pressed
into service as partofthe
technicalrestoration process.
"‘Now And Then”is
an entirely positive
application ofA l’
M U SIC:No seco n d album syn d ro m e f
or
th is m o n th ’sVin ylIco n ,P etSh o p Bo ys’
Actually (p8 2),w h ile Steve Suth erlan d
so aks up Sly An d T h e Fam ily Sto n e’s
Anthology,re-released o n 1 8 0g LP (p8 0)
RIG HT :HFN i
sth e U K ’srepresen tative
o fEI
SA’sHi-FiExpertG ro up.Ed ito rPaul
M illerto o k o veras EI
SA’sP resid en tin
Jun e 201 6 an d w as re-elected in 2021
N ow itw as possibl
e,u sing Al
,
to entirel
y recover John Lennon’s
vocal
s from u nder the piano and
noise - the other instru m ents,
the m ixing and m astering w ere
al
lsu bseq u entl
y com pl
eted
by realhu m an beings!Bu tthis
al
so begsthe q u estion:w ho
know s w hathitherto ‘u nu sabl
e’
m aterialishel
d in the vau l
ts by
the estates ofartists l
ong passed.
Alm ightj
u stopen the gate to
m ore ‘l
astever’ rel
eases.
PAU L M ILLER G ROU P EDIT OR
HI-FI NEW S’ EX P ERT LINE U P :T HE FINEST M INDS IN AU DIO JOU RNALISM BRING T HEIR EX P ERIENCE T O BEAR ON ALL AREAS OF HI-FI& M U SIC
BARRY FOX
PETER QUANTRILL
KEN KESSLER
M ARK CRAVEN
TIM JARM AN
ANDREW EVERARD
STEVE SUTHERLAND
Investigative j
ou rnal
ist
su prem e,Barry isthe
firstw ith new s ofthe
l
atestdevel
opm ents
in hi-fiand m u sic
technol
ogies
P eter Q u antril
lhas
been w r iting abou t
m u sic for m agaz ines
and record l
abel
s for
30 years. He isHFN'
s
m aster ofthe cl
assics
is a l
ong-serving
contribu tor, l
u xu ry
goods w r iter and
cham pion for the
renaissance in val
ves
and reel
-to-reeltape
Editor ofou r sister title
H om e Ci
nem a Choi
ce,
M ark ’spassion for
m u sic extends from
stereo to m u l
tichannel
and D ol
by Atm os
C o-au thor ofa m aj
or
hardback on historic
B& O eq u ipm ent,Tim
continu es to research,
repair and w r ite abou t
vintage hi-fifor HFN
has review ed hi-fifor
over 30 years and
isstil
leffortl
essl
y
enthu siastic abou tnew
technol
ogy, k itand
discovering new m u sic
w ork ed on M el
ody
M akerand then edited
NM E from 1992-20 0 0 ,
the B ritpop years. S teve
brings a u niq u e sl
antto
ou r V inylRel
ease pages
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
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NAD hasannou nced a new range-topping
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£4499,the M66 isan obviou s partner for
the C anadian m anu factu rer’sM23stereo
pow er am pl
ifier [HFN Oct’22],
and integrates the now -fam il
iar ‘hi-res’
Bl
u OS stream ing pl
atform .
Anal
ogu e anddigitalsignalpaths are
separated,each w ith their ow n pow er
su ppl
y.The M 66’sconnectivity incl
u des
optical
,coaxial
,HD MIeARC andAES/
EBU digitalinpu ts,pl
u s MM/MC phono
(w ith anal
ogu e bypass m ode). Mak ing its
debu tisnew ‘D ynam ic D igitalHeadroom ’
technol
ogy,w hich l
everagesthe M 66’s
ESS Sabre D AC to el
im inate ‘digital
intersam pl
e peak cl
ipping distortion’.
D irac Live room correction and bass
control(the pream p su pports u p to fou r
independentsu bw oofers)are onboard.
I
n addition to Bl
u OS-del
ivered(and
app-control
l
abl
e)netw ork au dio,the M66
featu res Appl
e AirP l
ay 2 andtw o-w ay
Bl
u etooth transm ission,w hil
e ow ners of
w ired headphones can m ake u se ofa bu il
t
in headphone am pl
ifier.The M66 adopts
the Masters series’ cu stom ary al
u m iniu m
bodyw ork ,andfeatu res a l
arge (7in)
tou chscreen displ
ay.
NAD Electro n ics,Can ad a, 01 7 32
459555; h ttp ://n ad electro n ics.co m
|Compacttwo-way |
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Reborn in 20 20 w ith a pair ofdata
sw itches,C hordC om pany brand
Engl
ish El
ectric has now annou nced
the EE1 ‘netw ork noise isol
ator’.
This passive Ethernetadapter u ses
gal
vanic andcom m on-m ode noise
redu ction technol
ogies to im prove
signalpu rity,w ith su ggested u ses
Sel
f-described‘esoteric’ D u tch brand Mol
a Mol
a :
incl
u ding betw een a netw ork sw itch
hasadopted- and u pgraded-the RI
AA phono • andau dio stream er. P riced £250 ,the
stage from its Maku a pream p [HFN Au g ’ 17]
EE1 w il
lcom e su ppl
iedw ith a 0 .75m
and Ku l
a integrated am p [HFN Oct’ 21]into a
• C -Stream stream ing cable ‘for a
standal
one design.Avail
abl
e now for £7299,
: lim itedtim e’,www.englishelectric.uk
Fishingforvi
nyl
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stages,w ith gain offered in 5dB steps betw een
40 -45dB (MM)and 52dB -8 7dB (MC )pl
us
nu m erou s inpu tl
oadsettings. Mol
a Mol
a cl
aim s
its EQ settings cover ‘practical
l
y al
lk now n
cu tting cu rves’ incl
u ding 78 rpm standards.
Mu l
tipl
e tu rntabl
es are accom m odatedthank s
to its q u artetofinpu ts (three RC A,one XLR),
w hil
e other featu res incl
u de incl
u de XLR and
RC A ou ts,fou r configu rabl
e presets,su bsonic
filter (-3dB /20 Hz ),controlthrou gh Mol
a Mol
a’s
Rem ote app,andafront-panelinfo displ
ay.
M o la M o la, G ro n in g en ,T h e Neth erlan d s
08 00 009 621 3;w w w .m o la-m o la.n l
22
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
DECEMBER 2023
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The Mel
os active speaker from
high-endSwiss m anu factu rer
G ol
dm u nd m arries softdom e
tw eeters and 7in bass/m iddrivers
w ith onboard 2x175W ‘Tel
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stages incorporating digitalfil
tering
andtim e correction. I
t
sstandm ou nt
cabinets,finished in sil
ver-grey,are
ventedfor a cl
aim ed40 Hz (-6dB )
bassextension,w hil
e connectivity
com prises coaxialin/ou t,and
w irel
ess. P ricing is£36,0 0 0 per pair.
w w w.gol
dm und.com
: Measu ring a m ere 19cm high,12cm w ide and
• 12cm deep,W harfedal
e’snew D X-3speaker
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• 75m m w oven pol
ypropyl
ene bass/m iddriver
: w ith a 19m m sil
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e’scostl
ier
• D iam ond 12 series,as isthe constru ction of
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edcabinet,for w hich bl
ack
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nu tfinishes are avail
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e.The D X-3
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e,priced at£499.
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Hoton the heel
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ock ’
am pl
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a new m ono design from
N orw ay's El
ectrocom paniet.
The AW 30 0 M (£12,10 0 )
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oop bandw idth
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ou tpu t’ regardl
ess of
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oad.
Linder the hood,
the am p featu res internal
heatsink ing anda P SD featu ring
an 8 0 0 V A toroidaltransform er
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El
ectrocom panietsaysthe
AW 30 0 M's AC m ains inpu t
i
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ou sl
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tered’ for
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e the am p stage offers
: W hil
e D enon's D C D -andP MA: 170 0 N E pairing m atches a C D
: transportw ith netw ork -capabl
e
: integrated am pl
ifier [HFN May
: '23],stabl
em ate brand Marantz
: hastak en a differentapproach,
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au nching the C D 50 n netw ork ■ attached C D pl
ayer and Model
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pictu red]. B oth sel
lfor £160 0
: in sl
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ver or bl
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: The disc-spinner incorporates
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e[
see
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over-cu rrentprotection. The
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d 'C l
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as isthe ‘grou nd u p'chassis
redesign ofthe AW 8 0 0 M,now
m ore com pactat212m m w ide.
Electro co m pan ietAS,No rw ay,
01 334 57 0 666; h ttp s://
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e USB)and
fixed/variabl
el
ine-ou t,w hil
e the
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ifier cl
aim s a 2x70 W /8 ohm
Cl
assAB ou tpu tand su pports
u p to six anal
ogu e sou rces,
incl
u ding MM/MC phono. The
ESS Sabre D AC in the C D 50 n
isj
oined by cu stom -designed
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ters;the Model50
offers traditionaltone control
s.
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HI-FINEW S? JU ST ASK ...
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The new EVO tonearm series
from P ro j
ectfeatu res fou r tiers,
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ogu e. P ricedfrom £725 to
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to partner tu rntabl
es in the
'affordabl
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andal
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InternationalC ES 20 24,LasVegas,USA w w w .ces.tech
BristolHi-FiShow,M arriottC ity C entre Hotel
,Bristol
:
w w w . b ri
stol
show.co. uk
SpringAu dio Ju m bl
e 20 24,The AngelLeisu re C entre,
Tonbridge,Kent:w w w .audi
oj
um b i
e.co.uk
N orth W estAu dio Show,C ranage Hal
l(D e Vere C ranage
Estate),C heshire;http ://audi
oshow .co.uk
The UK Hi-FiShow Li
ve. AscotRacecou rse G randstand,
AscotBerkshire SL5 7JX;w w w .hi
fi
show l
i
ve.com
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
23
A irPlay2.Chrom ecast,Sp otify,Tidal, M Q A, H D M I eA RC, and m ore.
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sandsoundsfrom aroundtheglobe 7/
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TheU K H i
-FiShow Live # 1
W ords: M ark Craven Pictures: Kevin N ixon & M ark H en n in ger
t
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A fter an absence of three
years, the U K H i-Fi Show Live
returned to A scot’s iconic
G randstand [above]w ith
enthusiastic visitors bathed in
the late sum m er sunshine as
they queued dow n the high
street [low er right]on the last
w eekend in Sep tem ber.
O nce inside the huge
venue [below ]- the 2nd
floor alone sp ans one-third
of a kilom etre - visitors w ere
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greeted w ith an illum inated
disp lay highlighting just a few
of the m any visually stunning
and technically innovative
p roducts on dem onstration.
The U K H i-Fi Show Live boasted
over 200 featured brands p lus
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Bode [seen w ith H i-FiN ew s
editor and show organiser Paul
M iller]from G erm any’s p rem ier
hi-fi m agazine, Stereo. M atthias’
sp ecial series of W orkshop s
w ere as p op ular as ever!
Photograp her, Kevin Nixon,
30 occup ying the Panoram ic
H eadp hone Zone w ith its
fabulous 6 th floor vista. The
num ber of overseas brand
am bassadors on site w as
unp recedented for a U K event,
including sp ecial guest M atthias
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sandsoundsfrom aroundtheglobe
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Located on the sixth level ofthe
p restigious Ascot G randstand,
the Panoram ic H eadp hone
Zone w as the first p ort of call
for anyone eager to audition a
new set of cans, a p ortable DAP
or headp hone am p /DAC,w here
the p roducts on dem onstration
covered p rice p oints from
entry-levelto reference-grade.
Firm ly in the latter cam p
is dCS’s Lina [HFN Nov ’221 ,
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w hich com bines Netw ork D AC
and H eadp hone Am p (p lus
a M aster Clock), the first of
those utilising the com p any’s
besp oke RingD AC technology.
M eanw hile, p ersonal audio
sp ecialist H ifonix offered
dem os of a selection of
p rem ium designs from
brands including Dan Clark,
Feliks and V iva, and SCV
D istribution delighted
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D ECEM BER 2023
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listeners w ith the EarM en
‘Stack’[HFN O ct ’22]
, p lus
head-fi solutions from M anley,
M eze and Benchm ark.
Across the hall, Focal’s full
headp hone line, including the
flagship U top ia and Bathys ANC
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m odels,w as p aired w ith Naim ’s
U nitiAtom H eadp hone Edition
am p lifier [HFN Aug ’21 ]
.Also
delivering sw eet sounds w ere
the electrostatic CRBN and
p lanar m agnetic M M -500
and LCD-X headp hones
from Audeze, courtesy
of KS D istribution. D igital
p layers from South Korea’s
Astell&Kern w ere show cased
by H EA D istribution as the
latest in high-end, on-the-go
hi-fi,w hile JBL’s extensive
catalogue of w ireless over-ear
and true w ireless in-ear typ es
catered to cable-free setup s.
Allthis, p lus m uch m ore
including Yam aha’s ‘p hone
box’dem o booth and set-up s
from Innuos, H arm ony H i-Fi,
Chord Electronics and Boyer
Audio, ensured the Panoram ic
H eadp hone Zone w as p acked
across the w eekend.
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Cam bridge Audio’s AX, CX
and Edge series com p onents
- p lus Alva TT V 2 turntable w ere available for insp ection
in the UK com p any’s suite,
w hile dem onstrations of its
Evo 1 50 ‘just-add-sp eakers’
am p [HFN Nov ’21 ]ensured
visitors lingered. Rated at
2x1 50W and com bining
netw ork stream ing w ith
analogue/digital hookup s
p lus ESS Sabre DAC,the
’1 50 w as run w ith KEF LS50
M eta loudsp eakers [HFN Jun
’21 ]
. Cam bridge also gave
silver discs a sp in through its
m atching EV O CD transp ort,
w w w .cam bridgeaudio,com
Chord Com p any show cased its range of loudsp eaker cables,
interconnects and p ow er solutions, and debuted its up graded
Burndy designs for use w ith Naim Audio hardw are. First
launched in 2020, the lineup now com p rises BurndyT and
entry-level BurndyX op tions, the latter featuring XLPE insulation
and ChorAlloy-p lated connectors, w w w .chord.co.uk
The latest M k5 iteration of
O rigin Live’s hefty V oyager
turntable, fitted w ith Renow n
tonearm , kep t listeners
focused on the m usic and not
the fifth-floor view s over the
Ascot Racecourse.This range
top p ing m odel (also available
in up graded ‘S-version’
guise) sup p orts up to three
tonearm s, and features tw in
Sw iss D C m otors to drive its
belt and m ulti-layer p latter,
w w w .origin live,com
B&W ’s 8 05 D 4 Signature w as in fine form in a system w ith
Classe’s Delta PRE p ream p [HFN Jun ’21 ]and Delta Stereo
p ow er am p . Sibling to the floorstanding 8 01 D 4 Signature
[HFN Sep ’23]
, it p airs a D iam ond D om e tw eeter w ith 1 6 5m m
Continuum cone bass/m id, and benefits from up grades to
cabinet, crossover, and m ore,w w w .bow ersw ilkins.com
The striking H alcro Eclip se
Stereo [HFN M ay ’23]brought
its ultra-low -distortion
p ow er to Alta Audio’s Alyssa
sp eakers,w hich m arry
6 in bass/m id drivers w ith
alum inium ribbon tw eeters
in an ‘Extended Transm ission
Line’cabinet. Sources in
Sound D esign D istribution’s
rack included G rim m Audio’s
high-end M U1 server/stream er
[HFN D ec ’20]
. w w w .halcro.
com ;w w w .grim m audio.com
D ECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
27
■ A
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P ERLIS TEN
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_____I P i.'tC ’lf'IM liit
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P ERLIS TEN ER
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PBiHrtlen R7 t
R7 t, EISA P REMIU M FLOORST ANDING
LOU DSPEAK ERS 2023-2024
"...undoubtedly a technically clever
loudspeaker, but engineered for one
simple goal - making great-sounding
music..."
h i-f
in ew s
OU TS TAN D IN G
S7 t, HiFiNew s,April2022
"...excels when resolving the most subtle
of musical moments and nailing the feel
and tone of instruments... It all sounded
wonderfully three-dimensional."
h Mln ew s
OU TS TAN D IN G
P ROD UC T
S4b, HiFiNew s,Jun e 2022
"For those who like to close their eyes
during listening, the R7ts are heaven
sent... I started to well up. It really was
that good."
R7 t,HiFiNew s Aug ust2022
karm a
a
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- v is u a
l
01 423 358 8 46
karm a-av.co .uk
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S ou nd Fow ndations’ set-u p m arried the su perb C l
earau dio
Reference Ju bil
ee tu rntable w ith D S Au dio’sG rand M aster EX
opticalcartridge/energiser [
both HFN Oct’ 23],pl
u s ‘Ioniser’
and ‘Eccentricity stabil
iser’ .Fu ru tech cabl
ing w as al
so in the
m ix to optim ise perform ance,w w w .soundfow ndati
ons.co.uk
S u patrac’sB l
ack birdtonearm
w as the star attraction ofa
vinylsystem incl
u ding KEF
Reference 1 l
ou dspeak ers
andTechnics SL-120 0 G deck .
V isu al
l
y distinctive thank s
to its patented ‘sidew ays
u ni-pivot’ design,the arm ’s
bonded,bl
ack carbon fibre
tu be isavail
abl
e in 9in,9.3in,
10 in and 12in,bu tcu stom
l
engths,w iring,m ou nts and
finishes can be specified.
w w w .sup atrac.com
V isitors to P MC D istribu tion’s
room w ere abl
e to experience
tw o stu nning fl
oorstanderbased system s. P MC ’sow n
factfenestria fl
agships [HFN
Au g ’ 21],u sed here w ith a
B ryston pre/pow er system ,
com bine fou r ATL-l
oaded
165m m bass drivers w ith soft
dom e trebl
e and m idrange
in an isol
ated centralbaffl
e,
w hil
e[
inset]the Renaissance
ESL 15Afrom M artinLogan
[HFN Jan ’ 17]isa hybrid
el
ectrostatic,its ‘C u rvil
inear’
panelm ou nted atop a bass
section w ith front-and rear
facing 30 0 m m w oofers driven
by 2x50 0 W C l
ass D am ps.
w w w . p m c-sp eakers. com ;
w w w . m arti
nl
ogan. com /en
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 29
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P ro-Jecttu rntabl
es ranging
from the affordabl
e D ebu t
P ro and ‘Tru e B al
anced’ X 2 B
[HFN Sep ’ 22]to the fl
agship
S ignatu re 10 w ere j
oined by
a sel
ection ofits com pact
separates in dem os ofthe
brand’sexpansive catal
ogu e,
w ith fou nder Heinz
Lichtenegger in attendance.
D istribu tor Henl
ey Au dio al
so
took the w raps offMu sical
Fidel
ity’sM8 xTT tu rntabl
e
[
inset,see p48 ],w hich
finds the com pany - now
ow ned by Lichtenegger resu rrecting the design of
its 20 0 4-era M lvinylpl
ayer.
w w w .henl
eyaudi
o. co. uk
Innu os show cased its fl
agship S tatem entserver [HFN Jan ’ 20 ],
and m ore com pactP u l
sar netw ork pl
ayer,in an ear-opening
system featu ring D ’Agostino P rogression am pl
ification and
W il
son Au dio l
ou dspeak ers. Mu sic pl
ayback w as ofcou rse
handl
ed by the com pany’sSense app and cu stom innu OS
softw are,the l
atter now u pdated to v2.5. i
nnuos.com
Henl
ey Au dio al
so u sedthe
l
arge AscotAu thority su ite
to dem o Kl
ipsch’sl
egendary
(AK6)Kl
ipschorn speakers,
[HFN May ’ 23]. Mu sical
Fidel
ity N u -Vista separates,
incl
u ding the P RE/P AS [HFN
Mar ’ 23],new phono stage
and D AC ,fedthe horn-l
oaded
cabinets,in addition to the
RSI30 stream er [HFN Oct’ 23]
from Korea’sHiFiRose - tru ly
a gl
obetrotting set-u p!
w w w .henl
eyaudi
o. co. uk
G erm any’sMBL drew pl
enty
ofappreciative l
isteners w ith
a m u sic system com bining its
Radial
strahl
er 126 speak ers,
C 51 integrated am p [HFN N ov
’ 12]and new C 41 netw ork
pl
ayer. The l
atter su pports
Roon,AirP l
ay,UP nP and
pl
ayback from stream ing
services,and can fu nction as
a pream p for digitalsou rces
- connections incl
u de USB-B,
AES/EBU in/ou tand S/P D I
F.
M eanw hil
e,the ’ 126 speak ers
are MBL’sentry-l
evel
,yet
l
everage technol
ogy from
the grou ndbreak ing 10 1 E
Mk l
lm odel[
HFN Ju n ’ 21],
incl
u ding the om ni-directional
‘pu l
sating m el
on’ tw eeter and
m id drivers,w w w .m b l
.de/en
■ 4 4 4
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w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
B
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DECEM BER 2023
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Fl
anked by Yam aha’sfl
agship
N S -20 0 0 A fl
oorstanders,
the brand’sEI
SA Aw ard
w inning R-N 20 0 0 A receiver
[HFN Ju l’ 23]displ
ayed both
its speak er-driving pow er
and a gorgeou s design that
bl
ends retro control
s (and
genu ine VU m eters)w ith
a discreetOLED displ
ay.
Ratedat2x125W /8 ohm ,the
u nitincorporates Yam aha’s
Mu sicC aststream ing pl
atform
andYP AO room correction,
al
ongside connections
incl
u ding HD MIARC ,coaxial
,
optical
,USB-B and MM phono.
The im posing N S -20 0 0 As,
m eanw hil
e,are three-w ay
designs w ith tw in 165m m
w oofers,w w w .uk.yam aha.com
Rogers’ LS5/9 C l
assic SE l
ou dspeak ers [HFN May ’ 21],on 55cm high P anz erhol
z stands,del
ivered a captivating perform ance.
Mu sic cam e from an Au dio N ote C D 4.1x pl
ayer,and Rogers’
E20 a/iiintegrated am p,basedarou nd fou r 6L6G T pow er tu bes,
proved a fine fitfor the BBC cabinets,w w w .rogers-hi
fi
.uk
I
n S ym m etry S ystem s’ sixth
fl
oor su ite,B rink m ann Au dio’s
150 W /8 ohm M ono am pl
ifiers
satbetw een W il
son Au dio
Sabrina speakers,w hil
e offto
the side an im pressive k itrack
incl
u ded B rink m ann’sEdison
Mk l
lphono stage,N yq u ist
Mk l
lstream ing D AC and
M arconiMk l
lpream p,pl
us
Tau ru s and Oasis direct-drive
tu rntabl
es. Lyra’sEtna MC
cartridge gotinto the groove.
w w w .sym m etry-system s. co. uk
Au diophil
es seek ing their
nextsystem u pgrade m ade
a beel
ine for dem onstrations
from accessories special
ist
Ru ssAndrew s,distribu tor of
Kim ber Kabl
e.The form er
introdu ced its new C l
arity
P ro 2 system conditioner,
al
ongside revival
s ofits iconic
P ow erB l
ock and P ow erKord.
Kim ber’sfl
agship N aked
interconnect[HFN Mar ’ 22]
and C arbon 18 X L speak er
cabl
e [HFN Oct’ 22]al
so
featu red in system s u sing
P MC tw enty5.26iand ’ 22i
l
ou dspeak ers,andseparates
from HiFiRose,ki
m b er.com ’,
w w w . russandrew s. com
* * * * * *
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
31
B
ri
*
■
n
1
tK LW M
U M O /L M L M -
1
v
IM L Ifm *
■
V M U fW
RS 130 & RS A720
The Ultimate Network Transport Streamer.
Featu ring advancedfibre ethernetnetw ork connectivity,precise OC XO 10 MHz cl
ock ,andopticalUSB connection,the RS13
0
sends a hyper-detail
ed sonic im age to you r D AC .The sol
id al
u m iniu m constru ction,crystal
-topped controlbu ttons,andthe
w ide-angl
e 15.4-inch LC D capacitive tou ch-screen m ak e the netw ork transportaj
oy to u se. Listen to m u sic on l
ocalstorage
via the com pactRSA720 fibre-opticalhu b andgain accessto tw o USB 3
.0 anddu alUSB 2.0 ports,al
lw hil
stk eeping vibration
and u nnecessary el
ectricalsignal
s aw ay from you r stream ing u nit.Al
ternativel
y,accessfil
es from you r hom e netw ork w ith a
D LNA connection to any NAS drive or other storage device. El
evate you r digitalau dio experience w ith Hi-FiRose.
roon *r
HENLEY
U DIO
tid a l
Q q obu z © spew
Hom i
Distributed by Hen ley Aud io
T:+ 44 (0 ) 1235 511 166 | E:sal
es@ henl
eyau dio.co.u k | W :w w w .henl
eyau dio.co.u k | (| :Henl
eyAu dioU K | Q
:Henl
eyAu dio
* ft ft 4 v « 4 * 4
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Outperf
o rm in g i
ts 2x303W /8 o h m ratin g to ran k as o n e o fth e
w o rld ’s m o stpo w erf
ulin teg rated am ps, Heg el’s n etw o rked
H600 [HFN Oct’23] i
sa g en uin e rivalf
o rth e No rw eg ian
bran d ’so w n P 30A/H30A pre/po w er[HFN Jun ’23].T eam ed up
w ith th e Vikin g CD player[HFN Sep ’23], itputEg g lesto n W o rks’
Em m a Evo lutio n speakers th ro ug h th eirpaces,w w w .hegel.com
No stalg ic so un d s abo un d ed
as HFN’svery o w n T im
Jarm an presen ted h i
s o rig in al
Ph ilips CD1 00 d isc player
an d M o tio n alFeed back
lo ud speakers i
n th e sh o w ’s
Vin tag e Villag e.T im w as
jo in ed by Alex K irkh am o f
Lo n d o n ’sW ilto n Music Mall,
w ith o th erclassic treats
in clud in g a G ale turn table,
Alban y pre/po w eram plif
iers
an d Merid ian separates,
iw iw .w iltonm usicm all.com
No d e Aud io ’seye-catch in g
Hylixa lo ud speakeri
s a th reew ay d esig n , i
ts f
ro n t-f
acin g
rin g rad iato rtw eeteran d
Balan ced M o d e Rad iato rm id
jo in ed by an in w ard -f
irin g bass
un it- th e ‘d o uble-curved ’
en clo sure, d esig n ed to tackle
stan d in g w aves an d lim it
cabin etd if
f
ractio n , h o uses
a h elicaltran sm issio n lin e,
h en ce th e speaker’sn am e.
Of
f
ered in ‘in f
in ite’ f
in ish
o ptio n s, th e Hylixas w ere
h ere m o un ted ato p No d e
Aud io ’s n ew SS-1 iso latio n f
eet
(so ld i
n sets o fth ree o rf
o ur),
w h ich aim to abso rb vibratio n
th ro ug h a m ulti-partceram ic/
stain less steel/g lass n ylo n
d esig n , w w w .nod e-aud io.com
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
33
SHOW BLOG Sightsandsoundsfrom aroundtheglobe
4 -to- 4 4 ■ 4 4
4- 4 4 #
to to to 4 4 » 4 4 4
to 4 « 4
■ 4
to 4 «
to 4 4
4 • 4 4
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Auralic team ed up w ith
AudioQ uest and G oldenEar
in the venue’s large O ld Press
Room to show case its range
of netw ork audio sep arates.
Feeding T6 6 sp eakers [below
right]w ere the Aries G 2.2
transp ort and V ega G 2.2
stream er/D AC [H FN Nov ’23]
,
both sup p orted by its slick
Lightning ap p .AQ cabling,
interconnects and Niagara
5000 p ow er conditioner
ensured the system , w ith
H eed Lagrange am p , p layed
to its best, w w w .auralic.com
Another G oldenEar/AQ set-up ,
in a sm aller room , starred
its com p act BRX sp eakers
[H FN Sep ’22]
. Standm ount/
bookshelf m odels, these
borrow ‘H igh-V elocity Folded
Ribbon’tw eeter and bass/m id
■to
driver tech from the Triton
Reference [H FN Jun ’1 9 ]
,
allied to side-facing ABRs. A
snap p y, detailed and bass-rich
p erform ance confirm ed their
high-value rep utation.
w w w .goldenear.com
Pledged as ‘the first m odel in a new T series’,G oldenEar’s T6 6
is clearly insp ired by the US m aker’s earlier Triton loudsp eakers,
being a hybrid w ith p ow ered, D SP-controlled bass drivers and
p assive m id/treble units, the latter a ‘folded ribbon’AM T. G iven
sp ace to breathe, the T6 6 s let it rip ! w w w .goldenear.com
The rollout of Exp osure’s w ell-p riced 351 0 series [H FN Nov ’21
&Jul ’23]continues, w ith m ono, stereo and p ream p s now
joined by the 351 0 CD p layer. This top -loading disc sp inner
debuted alongside a surp rising new addition to the Exp osure
range - a turntable designed in conjunction w ith Rega.
Sp eakers w ere the LS6 /ffrom Chartw ell, w w w .exposurehifi.com
Both the (w hite) LS6 0
W ireless [H FN Sep ’22]and
svelte Blade 2 M eta from KEF
share a ‘single p oint source’
p hilosop hy and m etam aterialenhanced 1 2th-gen U ni-Q
to 4 4 4 w
to to « 4
34
4 4 4
to to il 4 4 to 4
* to • « 4
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
to 4 4 to ■ to 4 • 4 4 4
to 4 4 4
to 4
to 4 4 4 «
D ECEM BER 2023
■ to to * 4 4 4
to to 4 4 w *
1 4 4 4 4 4
to 4- 4 4 4 4
to 4 4 4 4
to ■■■ *
4 4 4 4
to 4 to 4 -a to * 4 i 4 4 4 * * - 4
4 4 4 4
4-4 4 4 4 4
to 4 4 4 4 4
to 4 4 4 4
to 4 4
array.The sp eakers drew
p lenty of adm irers, dem o’d
here w ith Chord cabling,
an Innuos Zenith server and
H egel H 6 00 integrated am p
[H FN O ct ’23]
. w w w .kef.com
to- 4 4 4
4 4 4 4 4
4 *
4 4 4 4 4
4
4 4 v 4
to 4
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4 4 4 4
to 4 4 4
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4 4
4
A haven for lovers of highend audio,Absolute Sounds’
takeover of A scot’s huge O n5
suite dem anded a lengthy
stay. O ffering a taste ofthe
distributor’s full catalogue
m eant som e m odels w ere on
‘static’disp lay, including this
aw e-insp iring am p lifier lineup
(including tube, solid-state
and hybrid) from D enm ark’s
Cop land, the Netherlands’
Prim aLuna and France’s Jadis,
p lus turntables from EAT
(Austria) and [inset]Reed
(Lithuania). Naturally, even
m ore treats from across the
globe w ere in store...
w w w .absolutesounds.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------«
M agico’s S3 floorstander has been reborn in a M kll iteration
w ith extensive up grades to cabinet, drivers and crossover.
Absolute Sounds added Constellation’s Centaur IIstereo p ow er
am p lifier [H FN Feb ’23]and Takum i KI6 0 m onoblocks from
Robert Koda, on the end of D ohm ann’s flagship H elix O ne M k3
turntable, w w w .m agicoaudio.com
W ilson A udio’s Sasha V tow ers
[H FN Sep ’23]
, w ith added
w eight from a p air of LbKe
subw oofers [H FN Sep ’22]
w ere kep t in a tight grip by
Audio Research’s KT1 50based Reference 1 6 0M
M kll m onoblocks and the
M om entum M xV Integrated
Am p lifier from D ’Agostino
[review in H FN Jan ’24]
. O nce
heard, this w as a hi-fidem o
that w ouldn’t be forgotten!
w w w .w ilsonaudio.com
The 1 /50from Audio Research [H FN O ct
’22]is not typ ical of the m arque, being
a com p act integrated am p offered in
six different colourw ays - although
Absolute Sounds brought along a
black version [left, below ]
. Rem ote
controlled, w ith LexieTube disp lay and
D AC/p hono op tions, it w as dw arfed by
the REF 8 0S p ow er am p [H FN M ay ’21 ]
.
w w w .audioresearch.com
Also from the distributor’s boutique
‘Ten’catalogue, Trafom atic’s Lara is a
tw o-box line-level p ream p lifier, w ith
p ow er sup p ly sep arated from its fully
balanced, valve-based Class A audio
stage. Lurking behind it w ere the
flagship Elysium m ono am p lifiers, w hich
claim up to 7 0W from Eim ac 250TL
triodes and w eigh in at 8 5kg a p iece.
w w w .trafom aticaudio.com
The m odel chosen to launch Absolute
Sounds’‘Ten - The Artisan Collection’,
D eV ore Fidelity’s 0/9 6 [H FN Ap r ’21 ]
is no sim p le tw o-w ay standm ount
loudsp eaker. Its com bination of custom
SEAS tw eeter, M uller blue p ap er cone
bass/m id and m eticulously crafted bass
reflex cabinet yields a p erform ance of
sublim e sound and high sensitivity.
w w w .devorefidelity .com
4 -4
■ ■ 4 • 4 4 4
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D ECEM BER 2023
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to * ■ to 4 « 4
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w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
to 4 4 4 « 4
35
* 4- * * 4
P ERLIS TEN ™
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SHOW BI
Fast-grow ing U K distributor
Signature Audio System s held
court in the RARC South room
w ith a raft of high-end gem s,
including Thorens turntables
and [inset]PS Audio
loudsp eakers and sep arates.
Paul M cG ow an, PS Audio’s
irrep ressible ow ner,jetted
over to host crow d-p leasing
dem os of a w orld-exclusive
system p airing FR30 and FR2O
floorstanders [HFN Jun ’22 &
Ap r ’23]w ith the ‘no holds
barred’BH K 6 00 Signature
m onoblocks [HFN D ec ’22]
and FPGA-based D irectStream
DAC M K2 [H f/V Jun ’23]
.
w w w .signa turesy stem s,co.uk
Soundsm ith is know n by audiop hiles for
its strain gauge system s and m oving
iron (aka ‘fixed coil’) cartridges, the
latter top p ed by the H yp erion M k II.
M eanw hile, system builders w ere
tem p ted by the cable range from
Clarus,w hich includes loudsp eaker,
p ow er, interconnect and digital audio
solutions, w w w .sound-sm ith.conr,
w w w .claruscable.com
Based in California but the brainchild
of U K-born engineer G eorge Counnas,
Zesto Audio sp ecialises in p hono stages
and p re/p ow er am p s - m ost w ith slick,
sw oop ing casew ork and allvalve-based.
Near the top ofthe range is the Andros
D eluxe II p hono stage, sup p orting a
balanced M C connection [HFN Sep ’21 ]
and offering com p rehensive gain and
load settings, w w w .zestoaudio.com
■
4
Potent desktop audio system s from
Ferrum featured its EISA Aw ard-w inning
W andla DAC/p ream p [HFN Aug ’23]and
O O R headp hone am p lifier [HFN D ec
*21 ]
.The 7 6 8 kH z PCM and D SD 256 cap able W andla m arries an ES9 038 PRO
DAC w ith Ferrum ’s custom SERCE
m odule, resulting in extensive filter
op tions,w hile the O O R is fully balanced
from inside to out.w w w .ferrum .audio
‘H andm ade sonic p erfection’is the calling card of Floridian
brand V AC. Its M aster Pream p lifier [HFN M ar ’21 ]
,w ith
outboard PSU, can be fitted w ith an op tional p hono stage, and
w as show n at the H i-FiShow Live w ith Signature 200iQ am p s
that offer both m ono (200W ) and stereo (2x1 00W ) op eration,
p lus ‘continuous’autom atic tube biasing,w w w .vac-am ps.com
This second Signature set-up
m arried Canor hardw are
w ith Canton loudsp eakers.
The new Reference line
from Canton is m ore overtly
‘stylish’than the p revious
Reference K [HFN M ay &Aug
4> * * 4 4
* 4- 4 4 4 4
4 « ■* * 4 4 *
• 4 4 4
* 4 4 4 •
4< A * « 4
■ ■ » 4 4 « •
’22]
, and led by the three-w ay
Reference 7 tow er,fed here
by com p onents including
Canor’s CD 1 .1 0 p layer/DAC
and the ‘p ure Class A’V irtus I2
integrated, w w w .canton.de',
w w w .canor-audio.com
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w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
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37
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Theh i-fin ew sR eaderP ledge
& RecordReview
Hi-Fi News' readers can take full confidence in the fact that every product featured
on our front coven throughout the magazine and on our website has been
comprehensively reviewed (auditioned, photographed and lab tested) at our facility
You hol
d in you r hands the w orl
d’sol
dest
andm ostrespectedhi-fim agaz ineHi
-FiNews - w here heavyw eightau dio
engineering i
sou r stock in trade.Al
lou r
review produ cts are typical
l
y su bj
ectto
a one-m onth testprocess from shipping,
u npack ing,instal
l
ation,photography,l
ab
w ork ,extended l
istening,disassem bl
y/
pack ing andcol
l
ection. This practice w as
m aintained rightthrou gh the pandem ic
period,w ith fu l
lC ovidbiosecu rity adding
to the l
ogisticalcom pl
exity ofou r fou rw eek issu e schedu l
e. Bu tw e did it... never
m issing one issu e ofthe m agaz ine or
com prom ising the '
Hi
-FiNew s P l
edge’:
1.Ou r hardw are review s are never brief
’hands on’ experiences ofa produ ctfrom
a press conference,brand-l
ed dem o or
distribu tor’sback room spu n u p into a
fou r or five page articl
e.
2. P rodu cts review ed in Hi
-FiNew s
al
ready have secu re distribu tion and
retailchannel
s in the UK. So readers
shoul
d be abl
e to arrange their ow n
au ditions ifsu itabl
y inspired!
3. Al
lreview sam pl
es are shippedto
and instal
l
ed atou r m ain facil
ity.They
are photographed by u s {u nl
ess stock
shots conform precisel
y to ou r tem pl
ate)
and l
ab testedto a u niq u el
y w orl
d-cl
ass
standard before l
istening begins...
ABO VE: Sim o n P o pe [lef
t]an d David Speirs o f
Burm ester[p38] lo o k o n h o pef
ully ased ito rP M
[beh in d th e cam era)i
sen co urag ed to lif
tth e
21 8 o uto fits bo x.He d id ...seef
ullreview ,p42
4.W e bel
ieve in high q u al
ity
investigative j
ou rnal
ism by experienced
w riters and editors- w e ask q u estions,
w e do ou r research andw e m ak e
tru l
y independenteval
u ations.W e do
notrel
ease review s to brands for ‘fact
check ing'or other m odification prior to
pu bl
ication. They readitw hen you readit.
L EFT :In n o vative,research -based test&
m easurem en t- w ith exclusive co lo ur’d ata
visualisatio n ’ - un d erpin s every review i
n
Hi-FiNew s.In each issueyo u w illd isco ver
perf
o rm an ce-d eterm in in g f
acts th atare
un iq ue to o urrepo rtin g
5.Above al
lw e respectou r readers.You
dem andthe bestreview s inform ed by
decades ofexperience,produ ctk now l
edge
andtechnicalexpertise.W e endeavou r to
l
ive u p to thatexpectation.
IN T HISISSU E...
R IG H T :O n ly Hi-FiN ew s ta kes yo u up
clo se an d p erso n al, o utsid e an d in , w ith
o ur in -d ep th review s o fp ristin e vin ta g e
g ear.P ictured is th e un d ersid e o fB& O ’s
B eo m a ster 2000 receiver, fro m 1 97 5,
sh o w in g its m o d ula r PCBs |see p l20]
L EFT :H ere’s an Abso lute So un d s staffer
un bo xin g th e T ra fo m a tic Rh ap so d y
300B tube am p fro m its w o o d en cra te
befo re h eftin g it in sid e fo r listen in g an d
lab testin g .Yo u saw it a tth e U K Hi-Fi
Sh o w Live,n o w read th e review |p 56]
D EC EMBER 20 23
w w w .hifinew s.co.u k
41
Mad e by:Burm esterAud io system e G m bH, Berlin .G erm an y
Supplied by; Burm esterAud io system e G m bH
T eleph o n e:*49 307 8 7 968 0
W eb:w w w .burm ester.d e/en
Prices (pre/po w er):£35,900 (in c.ch o ice o fo n e m o d ule)/£34,600
Burmester0 7 7 /218
Taking both aesthetic and design cues from the flagship 159 monoblocks, the 218
power amp is the German marque’s newest model, teamed here with the 077 preamp
Review: Andrew Everard Lab: Paul Miller
autom ation solutions, including Crestron.
ever accuse Berlin-based
D esp ite being sep arated by m ore than 1 5
Burm ester oftim idity... In an
years,the 07 7 and 21 8 rem ain a p erfect
interview p ublished to m ark
visual m atch, bridging the eras betw een
the launch of its 21 6 and 21 8
p ow er am p lifiers, its Team Leader forthe com p any under the helm offounder
ieter Burm ester, and the brand today
Q uality M anagem ent,Thom as SchneiDder,
after his p assing in 201 5 [see boxout, p 46 ]
.
says, ‘W e have thought in exactly the right
direction’.The 21 6 am p lifier is p art of
The heavy aerosp ace-quality casew ork
has a decidedly ‘technical’look, and
w hat the com p any calls its Top Line, and
w hile the m irror-finish
w hile the 21 8 m ay look sim ilar it’s actually
in the up p er tier Reference Line, one step
fascia treatm ent adds visual
1
ap p eal,the engraved legends
below the Signature Line that features the
above and below the 07 7 ’s
flagship 1 59 m onoblocks and near-2m -tall
BC350 sp eakers,yours for £233,000 a p air. m ultifunctionaltoggles are
rather tricky to read. For
Stillw ith m e? W ell,the 21 8 is a stereo
exam p le, a single control
p ow er am p lifier, rated at 1 6 5W /8 ohm
handles p hase sw itching
[see PM ’s Lab Rep ort, p 45]w hile standing
alm ost 22cm tall and w eighing 42kg. H and but also toggles the disp lay
brightness, w hile another - at least w ith
built to the com p any’s usual standards of
the digital inp ut m odule fitted - chooses
solidity and finish, it sells for £34,6 00 (the
betw een Class 1 and 2 USB op eration,
1 00W 21 6 is £23,7 00) and is p artnered
selects the digital inp ut in use and enables
here w ith the £35,9 00 07 7 p ream p lifier, a
up sam p ling to 1 9 2kH z.
relatively long-running Burm ester m odel,
O ther controls access the set-up m enus,
the original version having been launched
including selecting the m ain outp ut or the
in 2007 to m ark the 30th anniversary of
the com p any’s 7 7 7 p ream p lifier.
07 7 ’s tw o headp hone sockets,the latter
N
som ew hat inconveniently located on the
rear p anel. Inp ut sensitivity, inp ut nam ing,
and so on, is achieved by a com bination of
up or dow n m ovem ents ofthe toggles, p lus
different lengths of hold w hen doing so.
T A K IN G CON T ROL
You can even byp ass various sw itches if
required, and w hile m ost users w ill soon
becom e fam iliar w ith their
basic functionality, it’s likely
that the sup p lied rem ote
control, also alum inium -clad,
w ill p rovide m ore logical
access to the functions of
the p ream p . M ind you, using
the rem ote dep rives you of
the tactile ‘click-stop ’ap p eal
of the 07 7 ’s chrom ed volum e control.
There’s not m uch chance of overshoot
through over-enthusiastic tw iddling here
- in fact, a determ inedly p ositive shove is
required to m ake changes!
The 07 7 and its p ow er sup p ly are
designed to be stacked. As both units have
heavy alloy feet, m achined to a sp ike,G»
Therewas
richnesswit
h
immediacy
anddetail’
M ODU LE CHOICE
Launched as a one-box p ream p ,w ith the
op tion of an offboard p ow er sup p ly,the
07 7 is now only available in tw o-box form ,
as a balanced line-only, analogue design,
albeit w ith the op tion of m odules to add
digital inp uts, M M /M C p hono cap ability and
an unbalanced line stage. O ne m odule of
your choice is included in the p rice - ours
w as fitted w ith the U SB-B/coax digital card.
RCA-to-XLR adap ters are included as is the
com p any’s 06 7 rem ote handset [see p 47 ]
,
w hich is £500 w hen bought sep arately.
O utp ut from the p ream p lifier is via
balanced XLRs, m atching the inp uts on
the 21 8 p ow er am p ,w hile an additional
BurLink connection allow s the am p lifiers
to be integrated into third-p arty hom e
RIG HT :In sid eth e lo n g -establish ed 07 7
pream p w ith d ig italm o d ule in stalled [lo w er
rig h t],m ultiple PSU reg ulatio n [f
arlef
t],in put
g ain ad justICs[bo tto m rig h t],lo g ic [rig h t]an d
pro prietary ‘X -AMP 2’ o utp utm o d ules [cen tre]
42
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
DECEMBER 2023
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
43
AU D IO S Y S TEM S
X8 TURN TABLE
BRING Y OUR MUSIC INTO FOC US
Th e X8 i
s a m ass-l
oad ed prem i
um turntabl
e wi
th features m ore com m onl
y found i
n m ore
ex pensi
v e m od el
s. F rom i
ts ov er-si
zed ,h eav yw ei
gh tw ood en pl
i
nth ,th rough to th e preci
si
onl
ath ed ,TPE-d am ped al
um i
ni
um m ai
n pl
atter,and th e 9" Ev ol
uti
on tonearm w i
th a Q ui
ntetBl
ue
cartri
d ge.Th e Pro-JectX8 i
sa com pl
ete turntabl
e sol
uti
on forh i
gh -end aud i
o system s.
HENLEY
ID IO
Distributed by Hen ley Aud io
es@ henl
eyau dio.co.u k | W :w w w .henl
eyau dio.co.u k | f):Henl
eyAu diol
IK | Q
T:+ 44(0 ) 1235 511 166 E:sal
:Henl
eyAu dio
LA B
REPORT
BU RM EST ER 218
B u rm ester su ppl
ies protective al
l
oy
basepl
ates for each,the 'paints'
sitting on carbon-fibre discs set
into their su rface. C om pl
eting the
attention to detailisthe provision
ofa cl
eaning spray andm icrofibre
cl
oth,designedto m aintain the u nits
in pristine condition.
The 218 pow er am p i
sofa size
andm assto m ake ita definite ‘sit
on the floor’ device,andfeatu res
m assive al
u m iniu m top andbottom
pl
ates sandw iching heatsinks
w rapping arou nd al
lfou r corners
ofthe encl
osu re. C ondu ction i
s
im proved by a copper heatpipe,
asthe ou tpu tdevices are actu al
l
y
l
ocated behindthe sol
idside-panel
s
betw een the heatsinks [
see inside
pictu re,bel
ow ]. The am pl
ifier is
a sym m etrical
,du al
-m ono,and
D C -cou pl
eddesign described as '
a
BELOW :In sid eth e 21 8 w ith to urpairs
o fbipo laro utputd evices (f
ro m ON
Sem ico n d ucto r)persid e [f
arlef
tan d
rig h t].Co pperh eatp ipe co n n ects al
lth e
h eatsin kin g [to p co m ers]w h ile a No ratel
tran sf
o rm eran d 4x1 00V/47 ,00Op FPSU
reservo ircapsare un d erth e cen tre PCB
ABOVE:T h e 21 8 ’sm irro red f
ro n tispiece
an d arch itecturalf
in s are bo th aesth etic
an d f
un ctio n al,an d classic ‘Burm ester’
three-stage,fu l
l
y com pl
em entary
signalam pl
ifier... w ith targeted
com pensation techniq u es andvery
narrow -tol
erance com ponents'.
This isthe core ofBu rm ester's
proprietary X-AMP technol
ogy.
POW ERDOW N
Arou ndthe back,hefty ‘w inged’
term inal
s are provided for stereo
speaker cabl
e connection. The 218
can al
so be u sedasa m ono am pl
ifier
or as partofa bi-am p configu ration
u sing dedicated adapter cabl
es,
avail
abl
e as accessories from
B u rm ester deal
ers at£130 0 a set
.
A singl
e pow er bu tton isthe
onl
y controlon the frontofthe
am pl
ifier,w ith a cu stom isabl
e LED
changing col
ou r to show on and
standby.Again to the rear there
are trigger ports asw el
lasthat
proprietary Bu rLink connection.
The 218 al
so hasan au tom atic
pow er dow n after 30 m inu tes ofno
signa],w hich ison by defau l
tbu tO
W eighing in at42k g andvery nearl
y afu l
lhal
f-m etre in w idth,
the 218 m ightbe expectedto have an eq u al
l
y ‘m assive’ 8 ohm
pow er specification. How ever,w hil
e ttie 218 i
sratedata
rel
ativel
y m odest165W /8 ohm . andachieves 2x193W /8 ohm
in practice,the pow er su ppl
y regu l
ation i
ssu fficientl
y stiffto
accom m odate peaks at<1% THD of221W . 419W . 738 W and
1.13k W into 8 ,4,2 and 1ohm l
oads,respectivel
y[
see G raph 1,
bel
ow ].W ith a cu rrentcapacity of34A. the ‘165W ‘218 i
sthu s
very tol
erantofl
ow anddifficu l
tl
ou dspeak er l
oads. Tie ou tpu t
im pedance isa fairl
y consistent0 .0 14-0 .0 19ohm (20 Hz -20 k Hz ),
m aintaining its + O .O dB to-0 .0 6dB response (20 Hz -20 kHz )into
m ostl
oads.Atthe extrem es,the 218 dips to -0 .5dB /1 Hz and
-1.15dB /10 0 k Hz . G ain i
sm ore than high enou gh at+ 34.3dB
(bal
ancedinpu t) andnoise very l
ow .yiel
ding avery w ide 95dB
(re. OdBW )A-w tdS/N ratio - so the 218 i
sa i/ery q u ietam pl
ifier.
Ju stascritical
,from a su bj
ective standpoint,i
sthe u niform ity
ofthe 218 ’ sdistortion profil
e,no dou btinform edby B u rm ester's
proprietary‘X-AMP technol
ogy'.Versu s l
evel
,distortion rem ains
<0 .0 0 2% from 1W to 140 W andonl
y tou ches 0 .0 0 28 % atthe
rated 165W (al
lre. 1k Hz /Sohm ).Versu s freq u ency,distortion
gentl
y cl
im bs from 0 .0 0 0 7% /!OOHz to 0 .0 0 17% /1 kHz and
0 .0 0 8 % /20 k Hz (re. 10 W /8 ohm ),a pattern thathol
dstru e
atl
ow er and higher pow er ou tpu ts [
see G raph 2,bel
ow ].
Interm odu l
ation distortion is<0 .0 0 0 3% (re. 10 W ). Final
l
y,stereo
separation i
saw ide 70 dB + (20 Hz -20 kHz ),channelbal
ance/
m atching i
sgoodto 0 .0 1 dB andany D C offsetatthe ou tpu ti
s
hel
dto bel
ow ±2m V — im pressive bearing in m indthe 218 i
sa
fu l
l
y D C -cou pl
ed/capacitortess am pl
ifier. P M
ABOVE:Dyn am ic p o w er o utp utversus d isto rtio n in to
8 o h m (black trace), 4o h m (red ), 2o h m (blue)an d
lo h m (g reen ) sp eakerto ad s.M ax.curren tis 33.6A
ABOVE:Disto rtio n versus f
req uen cy versus p o w er
o utp ut (lW /8 o h m , black; 1 0W , pin k; 1 00W , red )
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
P o w ero utp ut(< n FHD ,8 J4ohm )
193W / 320 W
Dyn am ic p o w er(<1LX HD ,8 f4/2/10 hm )
221W /419W /73SW / 1131W
O utp utim p.(20 H2-20 k H2fW °k
0 .0 14-0 .0 19ohin J0 .0 53ol
im
H i)
Freq .resp.[
20 H2-20 k H2^10 0 k H2)
+ O.OdB to-0 .0 6dB f-1.15dB
in p utsen sitivity (f
or 0 dB W f165W )
55rnV
A-w td Sf
N ratio [
re. 0 d6W /165W )
94.6dB f116.8 dB
Disto rtio n (20 Hz -20 kHz , l
OW fS ohm )
0 .0 0 0 65-0 .0 0 78 ^
P o w erco n sum p tio n [
I
dl
e/Ratedu /p)
46W /540 W [
1W standby)
Dim en sio n s (
W HD ) fW eig h t(total
)
496x216x479m m / 42kg
DECEMBER 2023
7 1Sm V
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
45
Hi
l
l
can be bypassedu sing B u rm ester’ ssystem
rem ote,or via the Bu rLink port. There’ sal
so
extensive protection againstshortcircu its,
overheating or D C offset,al
lofw hich is
enabl
ed u sing circu its l
ying ou tside ofthe
directsignalpath.
J -1 A N D... RELA X
Ou r initialau ditioning ofthese am pl
ifiers
kicked offvia the 0 77's USB-B ‘com pu ter
au dio'inpu t,w ith m u sicfedto the D AC
cardu sing Au render's W 20 SE m u sic l
ibrary
[
HFN Mar ’ 23]. Speakersw ere B& W 8 0 1
D 4s [HFN N ov '21 ],anditsoon becam e
cl
ear thatthe digitalm odu l
e fitted to the
0 77,thou gh convenient,w as starting
to show its age...The sou nd,w hil
el
u sh
andrich in the l
ow freq u encies,asone
m ightexpectgiven B u rm ester's origins as
a com pany created by a bass-pl
ayer,w as
mm
mi
n
som ew hatl
ack ing in freshness andvital
ity
in the m idband andtrebl
e. Thisw as ailvery
rel
axing andapparentl
y very ‘hi-fi’,bu tthe
m u sic stil
ll
acked spark and excitem ent,
som ething rapidl
y addressed by bringing
into pl
ay dC S’sV ival
diAP EX D AC [HFN
Ju n ’ 22],aiso connectedvia USB-B to the
Au render W 20 SE andw ith afixed-l
evel
ou tpu tto the 0 77's anal
ogu e inpu ts.
Tracksthatpreviou sl
y sou nded rich
bu tsl
ightl
y anonym ou s,su ch as‘On
The Su nny Side OfThe S treet’from the
Bil
lC harl
ap Trio's Notes From New York
al
bu m [
Im pu l
se!dow nl
oad],gained extra
sparkl
e andim petu s,no l
onger sou nding
l
ike a sl
ightl
y snooz y l
ate afternoon hi-fi
dem onstration. AndB onobo's 'Otom o',
from hisFragm ents al
bu m [
N inj
a Tu ne
ZEND NL 279],previou sl
y distingu ished
onl
y by its big,thu ndering bassl
ine w hich
BU RM EST ER’S 45 Y EA RS
As a co m pan y so ro o ted in th e visio n o fo n e m an ,f
o un d erDieterBurm ester,it’s
pleasin g to seeth e bran d stillf
lo urish in g af
terh i
s sud d en passin g in 201 5,at
th e ag e o fjust69.Butth en th e co m pan y’so rig in sto ry i
sa f
am iliaro n e,albeit
w ith a so lid m usicaltw ist:by th e ag e o f1 5,Burm esterw as playin g electric bass
in ban d s, a passio n h e w o uld f
o llo w f
o rh i
s en tire lif
e, an d w o rkin g o n w ays o f
im pro vin g th e valve am p h e’d builtf
o rh i
s in strum en t.Scro llf
o rw ard 1 5 years,
an d Burm ester,by n o w a q ualif
ied rad io an d T V tech n ician ,w ith a d eg ree i
n
electricalen g in eerin g ,f
o un d ed th e co m pan y th atbo re h i
s n am e, m o vin g o n
f
ro m valve amps to so lid -state d esig n s.
Just20 exam ples o fh i
sf
irstam plif
ierw ere pro d uced , carryin g th e co m pan y
n am e in w h ath e laterd isco vered w as a n ear-perf
ectf
acsim ile o fh i
sf
ath er’s
h an d w ritin g .By 1 983 h e w as m akin g h i
sf
irstbalan ced po w eram plif
ier,f
o llo w ed
f
o uryears laterw ith an in n o vative upsam plin g CD player,an d th en a belt-d rive
tran spo rtcarried th ro ug h to Burm ester’splayers o fto d ay.Speakers f
o llo w ed ,
usin g AMT tw eeters,as parto fa ‘w h o le system ’ ph ilo so ph y,an d i
n 2002 h e
bran ch ed o utin to auto m o tive aud io systems...via th e Bug attiVeyro n 1 6.4!
Burm esterw as also an early ad o ptero fco m puter-sto red music,its f
irst‘music
cen tres’ able to rip CDsto in tern alsto rag e,asw ellas h an d lin g In tern etrad io
an d o th erstream in g services,arrivin g m o re th an a d ecad e ag o [HFN Dec ’1 2].
In 201 5 th e co m pan y passed to Dieter’sw id o w , Marian n e,w h o bro ug h tin
f
o rm erPo rsch e M arketin g Directo rAn d reas Hen ke as co -ch airm an i
n 201 7 .
T o th is d ay th e co m pan y rem ain s 1 00% f
am ily o w n ed ,w h ile th e d evelo pm en t,
en g in eerin g an d h an d -assem bly o fits pro d ucts are stillcarried o utin Berlin w h ere itallstarted - un d erth e w atch f
uleye o fCh iefT ech n icalOf
f
iceran d h ead
o faud io d esig n Stef
an G ro sler,w h o w o rked f
o rm an y years alo n g sid e Dieter
Burm estero n m an y cl
assic pro jects.
46
WWW.
hi
f
i
n ews.
CO.
uk DECEMBER 2023
LEFT :A Burf
i
n k‘h o me
auto mati
o n ’i
n terf
ace[to p
l
ef
t]i
sjo i
n ed by 1 2Vtrig g er
po rts[to p ri
g h t],bal
an ced
aud i
o i
n puts(RCAto X LR
ad aptersarepro vi
d ed )an d
wi
n g n ut-styl
espad e/4mm
speakercabl
etermi
n al
s
w as m ore abou tw eight
than im pact,took on
extra detailandbecam e
faster-sou nding andm ore
interesting as a resu l
t.
Even those track s I
’dfou nd satisfying
w hen ru n throu gh the pream p’sinternal
D AC gained new l
ife w ith the dC S pl
ayer/
D AC in harness,al
l
ow ing the B u rm ester
am pl
ifiers to del
iver al
ltheir w arm th and
w eightw hil
e gaining new presence. Angel
Eyes',from C arm en C om es Inc.’sThousand
Shades O fBl
ue [
Sou ndLiaison SL-10 0 1A],
w hich is definitel
y a dem onstration
q u al
ity recording,com bined richness
w ith im m ediacy anda m ore detail
edview
ofthe singer'svoice. Sim il
arl
y,the sl
ow
bu rn ofthe 3rd m ovem entofEl
gar's First
Sym phony [
S taatskapel
ie B erl
in/B arenboim ;
D ecca 478 9353]brou ghttogether
statel
iness andscal
e,com pl
em ented by a
detail
ed insightinto w hateach section of
the orchestra w as doing.
SA X A PPEA L
Tru e,the Roger W aters tak e on 'Money'
from hisDarksi
de O fThe M oon Redux set
[
SGB Mu sic dow nl
oad]argu abl
y sou nded
al
ittl
e sl
ow ,ifm el
odram atic,bu tone can
hardl
y bl
am e the 0 77/218 am pl
ifiers for
that. By contrast,the Espen Eriksen trio/
Andy Sheppard ’P assion’ from the recentAs
GoodAsItGets rel
ease [
Ru ne G ram m ofon
RC D 2233]dem onstrated m u ch better pace
and openness,together w ith a fine reedy
tonal
ity to S heppard’ssax. Fu rtherm ore,
Fl
eu r B arron’sperform ance ofP u rcel
l
's
‘W hen IAm LaidIn Earth',from the La
N u ova Mu sica recording ofDi
do and
Aeneas [
P entatone P TC 518 70 32],w as
positivel
y spine-tingl
ing.
So,yes,this B u rm ester com bination
rem ains w arm ,generou s andstil
l
som ew hatpol
ite-sou nding by com parison
w ith som e m ore obviou sl
y u pfront
am pl
ifier system s,bu tthe im m ediacy,the
thril
land sheer am ou ntofdetailthru st
atthe l
istener by those l
atter am pl
ifiers
i
snotal
w ays a recipe for satisfaction in
the l
onger term . Moreover,the 0 77/218
pairing m aintains afirm grip on speakers
su ch asthe big Bow ers & W il
kins
fl
oorstanders,w hich benefitfrom both
confidentdriving andcontrolifthey’ re not
to dom inate proceedings.
LA B
REPORT
BU RM EST ER 077
ABOVE:Bo th th e07 7 preamp [to p]an d partn eri
n g 07 7 PSU [bo tto m]si
to n al
l
oy
basesw ith spi
kesl
o cated o n to i
n setcarbo n -f
i
bred i
scs.Si
xbal
an ced l
i
n ei
n san d o n e
o pti
o n almo d ul
e (ei
th erDAC o rMM /MC ph o n o )areo f
f
ered al
o n g si
d ebal
an ced pie
an d tapeo uts,tw o 6.35mm h ead ph o n eo uts,BurLi
n k,trig g eran d U SB(upd ate)po rts
The grip that’sexercised here
m ightbe conceal
edto som e
extentby the innate richness of
the 0 77/218 ’spresentation,bu t
it's cl
earl
y there in the intim ate
‘in the room 'presentation ofEd
Sheeran's ‘Engl
and'from Autum n
Vari
ati
ons [
G ingerbread Man Records
50 54197767272],w ith su perb
vocaland instru m entalcol
ou rs. It’s
even m ore obviou s w ith the l
angu id
cou ntry of‘Songs ThatShe Sang In
The Show er'from Jason Isbel
l
's 10 th
anniversary rel
ease ofS ou theastern
[
S ou theastern Records SER998 410 D X ],w hich show s excel
l
entthreedim ensionalsou ndstaging.
This abil
ity to l
etvoices and
instru m ents cu tthrou gh that
seem ingl
y rich,‘easy l
istening’ sou nd
i
sal
so apparentw ith Magdal
ena
Koz ena’ svoice on her l
ovel
y Fol
k
Songs setofl
ittl
e vignettes,w ith the
C z ech P hil
harm onic
u nder Sir Sim on
Rattl
e -yetanother
beau tifu l
l
yj
u dged
P entatone recording
[
P TC 518 70 75],
_ / V M eanw hil
e the 218
• i pow er am pl
ifier proved
' capabl
e ofseriou s
dynam ics on the ‘March
From 1941’ on the
Jerry Ju nkin/D al
l
as
W indsJohn W i
l
l
i
am s
JBt I
- - - - LEFT :Burmester’sf
ul
l
system 067 remo tei
sa
h eavyw ei
g h tal
l
o y casti
ng
th atco n f
ersf
ul
lco n tro l
o veri
t
sampl
i
f
i
ersan d
di
gi
talco mpo n en ts
Fl
AtTheM ovi
es rel
ease [
Reference
Recordings RR-142],w ith crispl
y
resol
ved snares andstartl
ing bass
dru m strikes. Andyes,itreal
l
y sw ings
w ith those m arching tem pi.
B u rm ester’s60 -step vol
u m e controloperates w ith a m ix of1dB
and2dB steps (one 2dB step for every three 1dB steps)to offer a
rel
iabl
e 8 0 dB range anda channelbal
ance error of<0 .1 dB dow n
to vol
u m e setting ‘15‘.G ain i
svariabl
e w ithin either ’Low ’ or
’ High’ m aster m odes,w ith the defau l
t’0 0 ’ gain settiEig offering
+ 3.5dB (or + 6.5dB in ‘High’)adj
u stabl
e to + 15.6dB and+ 19.2dB
(+ 12dB inpu tgain setting in tow 'and ‘High’ m odes)anddow n
to-2.5 dB and + 13.1dB (-0 6dB gain setting in low " and’ High').
The m axim u m ou tpu t(
s)are 3.5V in ’Low 'and 21.5V in ‘High’
M -Ou tm odes regardl
ess ofinpu tl
evel’gain'settings. Ou tpu t
im pedance is 112ohm in ’ Low 'and64ohm in ’High',andthe
A-w tdSI
N is99.1 dB and92.5dB ,respectivel
y,bu tthere i
sno
difference in the ±O.OdB response (20 Hz -20 k Hz )w hich reaches
+ 0 .5dB /1Hz and-1,45dB /10 0 k Hz . D istortion isl
ow esttn low ’
m ode at0 .0 0 0 15-O.OOO3
5K [
20 Hz -20 k Hz ,OdBV;bl
ack trace.
G raph 2]w ith 2nd-4th harm onics dom inating.
Usedasa D AC /pream p w ith u psam pl
ing enabl
ed,the 0 77
del
ivers a 2.63V bal
ancedou tpu tfor a OdBFs digitalinpu t(the
ou tpu tcl
ips beyondvol
u m e position ’55 ’).D istortion isa l
ow
0 .0 0 0 6-0 .0 0 16% (re. 20 Hz -20 k Hz ]atthisfu l
lscal
e inpu t[
see red
trace. G raph 2Jand fal
l
s to a m inim u m of0 .0 0 0 3^ 1kHz and a
l
ow er0 .0 0 0 0 9% [
/20 k Hz over the top 30 dB ofits range [
G raph 1]
.
The A-w td S/N i
safine 10 9dB ,l
inearity goodto ±0 .2dB over a
10 OdB range andchannelseparation i
san excel
l
ent130 dB .
W ol
fson's W M 8 741 D AC [
see B u rm ester 0 69,HFN Jan '12]has
bu il
t-in j
itter rej
ection (al
lsam pl
e rates < 10 psec).w hile the l
inear
phase digitalfilter confers 99dB stopbandrej
ection anda ‘digital
'
1
response Of-0 .0 OB,
20 kHz .-2.1 dBj
'45kHz and-14.5dB /90 k Hz
w ith 48 k Hz ,96k Hz and 192k Hz m edia,respectivel
y. P M
LIST EN IN G PLEA SU RE
Pl
ay another Reference set,the Ou e/
Minnesota Orchestra recording of
Respighi[
RR-95],andthe ‘P inidi
Rom a’ sou nds su itabl
y dram atic,
exu berantandcinem atic. Indeed,
the scal
e these am ps can del
iver
isperfectl
y m easu redagainstthe
detailandtonalshading ofthe
perform ance,how ever carried aw ay
you getw ith thatw eighted vol
um e
control
. Andso,in the rou nd,w hil
e
this B u rm ester du o u ndou btedl
y has
a ‘sou nd’,it’sone carefu l
l
y tail
ored
to del
ightthe l
istener,andfor m any
this m ixtu re ofease ofl
istening
andrichl
y del
ineated detailw il
lbe
exceptional
l
y attractive. (
!
)
T h e d istin ctively rich presen tatio n
o fth e 07 7 /21 8 pre/po w er
amplif
iers m ay be ato d d s w ith
th e apo cryph alG erman ic ‘so un d
tun in g ’,butth ere’sn o d o ubtth ey
are superbly easy to en jo y,w h ile
atth e same tim e co n veyin g th e
spiritan d em o tio n o fth e music.
Ad d i
n th e so l
i
d en g in eerin g an d
l
avish stylin g , an d th ere’sn o
g ain sayin g th e appealo fth ese
luxurio us co m po n en ts.No r,
in d eed ,th e so un d th ey d eliver.
SoundOual
Sy:87%
D
-!■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
- 100
ABOVE:Disto rtio n versus 24-bitd ig italsi
g n all
evel
o vera 1 20d B ran g e at1 kHz (bl
ack)an d 20kHz (bl
ue)
S '™ f
ABOVE:Disto rtio n versusf
req uen cy atOd BV o utput
[96kHz/24-bitd ig itali
n ,red ;an alo g ue i
n ,bl
ack]
-n N EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
M axim um o utp ut; im p ed an ce
2.63V / 112ohm (bal
anced)
In p ut sen sitivity (re. OdBV)
666m V (bal
anced)
Freq , resp.
+ 0 .0 to-0 .0 ldB /-1.4 5 dB (pie)
Freq .resp.(20 H2-20 k /45k /90 k Hz )
+ 0 .0 Lu -0 .0 4 /-2.10 /-14.5d6 (D AC )
Dig italjitter (
USB at4& kH2,f96k H2)
& psec /9psec
A-w td 5/N ratio (re. OdBV/OdBFs)
98 .fidB (Anal
ogu e) / 10 9.2dG (D ig)
Disto rtio n (20 Hz -20 k Hz ;OdBV/OdBFs)
0 .0 0 0 15-0 .0 0 0 3^/0 .0 0 0 6-0 .0 0 10 ^
P o w erco n sum p tio n
52W (W standby)
Dim en sio n s (W bl
D ) / W eig h t(w P SU)
450 x156x346rrim /25k g (51kg)
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 47
M ade by: M usical Fidelit y ( Audio Tuning Ve rt rie bs Gm bH) , Au st ria
Supplied by: Henley Audio Lt d, UK
TURNTABLE
Telephone: 01235 511166
W eb: w w w .m usica lfide lit y.com ;w w w .henleyaudio.co.uk
Price: £ 8 2 4 9 ( inc. arm )
M usicalFidel
it
yM 8xTT
Inspired by Musical Fidelity’s statuesque, near all-acrylic M1 turntable from 2004, the
brand’s new owners have reimagined the design to partner its massive Nu-Vista amps
Review: Adam Smith Lab: Paul Miller
locates in a cut-out w ithin the up p er layer
here can be no doubt that
w ithout m aking any p hysical contact.
retro is ‘in’.From cars to
The sup p lied D C PSU connects directly to
kitchen ap p liances to hi-fi,
the m otor unit and a clean sinew ave is
m any m anufacturers are taking
insp iration from the p ast and bringing regenerated inside the assem bly to run the
m otor,w hich is an AC typ e [see PM ’s Lab
fam ous and fondly rem em bered designs
Rep ort, p 51 ]
.A future up grade op tion is in
into the 21 st century.The acquisition of
the p ip eline, in the form of an outboard,
the M usical Fidelity brand back in 201 8
higher sp ecification linear D C
by H einz Lichtenegger’s Audio Tuning
PSU. Drive is transferred to
V ertriebs G m bH has given the com p any a
the low er p latter’s edge via a
very extensive and highly cap able backcatalogue to m ine.As a result,Audio Tuning p recision-ground silicone belt.
O p eration is sim p licity
(p arent ofthe ubiquitous Pro-Ject m arque),
itself, w ith a single sw itch
has taken the op p ortunity to boost its
on the m otor p od starting
p ortfolio w ith a sp ot of retro fever.
In addition to the obvious choice of a
and stop p ing the p latter and
selecting the sp eed.The sw itch
re-birth ofthe classic A1 am p lifier [first
button illum inates green on p ow er-up ,
fulltechnical review next m onth]and the
indicating that the deck is in standby
‘left-field’develop m ent of BBC-style LS3/5A
m ode. Short p resses then toggle the
and LS5/9 loudsp eakers, Lichtenegger has
setting betw een 33.3 or 45rp m , each w ith
w isely chosen to focus on the top -end of
an indicative blue LED that flashes until
M usical Fidelity’s historic lineup .The huge
Nu-V ista am p lifiers w ere the first fruits
the p latter is up to sp eed,then illum inates
steadily.A longer p ress returns the deck to
ofthis endeavour [HFN M ar &Aug ’23]
,
but the latest release is a re-w orking of a
standby m ode and stop s the p latter.
som ew hat lesser-know n M usical Fidelity
creation - the M 1 turntable [HFN M ar ’04]
- in the form ofthe £8 249 M 8 xTT.
T
The p latter itself is a substantial affair,
tip p ing the scales at 1 0kg. It consists of
tw o layers of alum inium w ith alum inium
inserts in-betw een,w hich recalls the M i’s
tw o-layer acrylic p latter w ith its p erip heral
w eights. Both top and bottom layers are
dam p ed w ith m ore TPE and a rather sw ish
leather p latter m at is sup p lied as standard.
An alum inium record p uck
w eighing in at 31 5g p resses
the record into this m at.
The arm m ounted on this
deck is a W in design and,
w hile it bears a sup erficial
resem blance to existing Pro
ject tonearm s, it is actually
all-new for the M 8 xTT.
M ost obvious is a large Plexiglass/acrylic
bearing housing that is hand-p olished and
annealed. The arm tube is tap ered and
p recisely m achined from a single p iece, and
is adjustable for azim uth. The arm base has
a distinctly SM E-like ap p earance and the
w hole arm m ount can be slid backw ards
and forw ards by 20m m w hen tw o large
'Thevocals
wereboth
upliftingand
insightful'
BIGGER BOOT S
The basic construction ofthe M 8 xTT w ill be
fam iliar to anyone w ho has encountered
an M l [see PM ’s boxout, p 49 ]
. The p linth
consists oftw o layers of clear acrylic that
sit at different levels on four sp eciallydesigned alum inium feet.These are both
‘m agnetically sup p orted’and dam p ed w ith
a soft TPE p olym er. U nlike the original M i’s
feet,the M 8 xTT’s bigger boots com p rise
tw o p arts and are adjustable to levelthe
deck - they sup p ort both layers ofthe
acrylic p linth but have Teflon sp acers in
betw een w hich help isolate the tw o slabs.
The turntable m otor sits in a sp ecial
foam gasket on the low er p linth and
RIG H T: An AC m otord rivesthe M 8xTTs 1 0kg
alloy p lattervia a rou nd -section b elt,w ith
electronic sp eed selection p rovid ed [top left].
The p artnering 1 0in tonearm ,
w ithPlexiglass
b earing yoke,isa new and heavyw eightd esign
4 8 w w w .hifinew s.co.u k DECEM BER 2023
lC
C A'
MLN.€!
■
LEFT: Top p ed b y a leatherm at,
the
tw o-p iece alloy p latteris b ond ed via
a seriesofp erip heralm etalcylind ers
- b oth8d iscs9are d am p ed w itha
thick insetring ofTPE p olym er.
There is no su sp ension b u tb oth
acrylic chassis are su p p orted on
fou rhu ge,
TPE-d am p ed feet
Allen bolts are
loosened. Pro-Ject also
suggests that a range of arm bases w ill be
available in due course to accom m odate
alternative arm s.
K EEPIN G T RA CK
Tw o counterw eights are p rovided that
w ill balance cartridge bodyw eights of
betw een 6 -20g, and both are TPE-dam p ed
and isolated from the threaded adjuster
to m inim ise resonances.The setup is not
calibrated, how ever, so a good stylus
balance - p erhap s Pro-Ject’s £20 M easure
it E - is a m ust for setting tracking force.
Bias is ap p lied by the thread and w eight
system , and a sup p ort rod for the thread is
fitted to the bearing housing.
The M 8 xTT’s arm features a standard
5-p in outp ut socket and requires the
connection of a short flying lead from
the term ination box located on the low er
p linth during assem bly.This junction box
offers outp uts in both balanced XLR and
unbalanced RCA form ats, p lus a ground
term inal. Fit and finish ofthe turntable
is nothing short of outstanding but,w hen
setting up your cartridge, be aw are that
the headshell lacks sufficient offset angle
so you’ll need to rotate your M M or M C
slightly inw ards.
LP A VIEW T O A T HRILL
W ith the deck set up and m y Clearaudio
M C Essence p ick-up [HFN Aug ’1 7 ]installed,
Iw as rem inded of a quip m ade by editor
PM w hen Iarrived to collect it. H e had
m used w hether it w ould sound quite as
solid yet transp arent as it looks. It turns
out that he w as sp ot on.The M 8 xTT
p resents a beautifully op en w indow onto
the p erform ance, but it achieves this in a
com m andingly authoritative m anner.The
old M l w as alw ays a little soft at the low
end; in this resp ect,
ar
M usical Fidelity’s
new m odel couldn’t
be m ore different.
In general term s,the
M 8 xTT p uts you at the
heart ofthe action. Som e
turntables effectively seem
to seat you in the ‘up p er
circle’of a p erform ance
and sp read the m usic out
w ide and into the distance
behind the loudsp eakers.
The M 8 xTT instead p laces
you front and centre in
the stalls, and it draw s
p erform ers out into your listening room
right in front ofyou in a m anner that is
quite uncanny on occasion.
But let’s return to that solid guiding
hand for a m om ent. O ne of m y tried and
trusted tests for low -end im p act has long
been the introduction to the title track
ofThe Eagles’Long Road Out Of E den
LP [U niversal 06 0251 7 546 9 50]
, w here
a belltolls in the distance. Rep roducing
the bell is easy and so is p lacing it in the
back ofthe soundstage. Adding a p rop er
sense ofw eight to w hat is actually a fairly
quiet background effect is trickier, but the
M 8 xTT m ade the task seem effortless.
W hen called up on to recreate the sam e
effect in a m ain p erform ance, the M 8 xTT
also rose to the challenge. The drum strikes
on Nanci G riffiths’‘Late Night
G rande H otel’[M CA M CST
1 56 6 ]w ere rep roduced w ith
a snap p y p recision, but also a
I fi
ne sense of atm osp here as
the hint of echo after each beat
rem ained.The w eighty p iano
during the song’s intro w as
just as w ell defined, and M iss
G riffiths’vocals cam e across as
heartfelt and em otive.
Hi-FiN ew s
■IrAjjfes
M U SICA L F IDELIT Y M l
8The M u sical Fid elity M l is a head -tu rn er9[H FN M ar 904 ],
an d the n ew M 8xTT certain ly has no less stop -you -in-you rtracks ap p eal. Bu tw hile thatin au gu ral d eck estab lished
the in d u strial d esign thatw ou ld b e cop ied som e 20 years
later,there are fu n d am en tal d ifferen ces in their resp ective
en gin eerin g. M ostob viou sly the M l featu red a tw o-p iece
acrylic p latter,each 8d isc9som e 30m m -thick,san d w ichin g
eightcylin d rical sp acer w eights thatb rou ghtthe total
rotatin g m ass to 5.7kg. The ~70m m d eep p latter allow ed
the u se of a lon g,in verted b earin g shaftm easu rin g
60x1 3m m w ith a sp iral 8keep er9groove m achin ed in to
its su rface. H ow ever,w hile the p latter w as ab ou thalf
the w eightof tod ay9s all-alloy solu tion ,start-u p tim e w as a lethargic
25 secon d s than ks,in p art,to the low -torqu e D C m otor (w ith ±3% fin e sp eed
con trol). And the arm ? Thatw as SM E9s then -n ew M 2 - availab le in 9-1 2in len gths
an d eq u ip p ed w ith a d etachab le head shell,itw as d escrib ed atthe tim e as 8a
3009 for the 21 stcen tu ry9.And the sou n d ? 8Tactile an d colou rfu l9!PM
LIGHT T OU CH
Fortunately,this w as in no w ay
due to any sense of overblow n
‘bloom ’at the low end. In bass
term s generally,the M 8 xTT
is detailed and taut, w ith a
fluidity to its up p er bass that
is p articularly p leasing.The
offbeat bassline to Bob M arley’s ‘W aiting
In V ain’[Legend: T he Best Of Bob M arley
A nd T he W aiters; Island Records BM W 1 ]
skip p ed along w ith a lightness oftouch
and sep aration of each note that seem ed G
DECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifinew s.co.u k 4 9
Clearly, limitless.
<It’sal
m ostas ifthe stream er isstripping aw ay everything thatisn’tm u sic andpresenting the D AC
w ith the signalal
one w ith precise yetfl
u entform thatsou nds so rightit’su ncanny.=
Jason Kennedy Ih i-f
i+
<The new C ore m odu l
e isnotonl
y a m u stfor those w ho w ish to obtain the absol
u te bestsou nd
q u al
ity— bu tal
so for those w ho desire z ero-config,tru e P l
u g 61P l
ay fu nctional
ity.=
C hristiaan P u nter IHiFi-Ad vice.co m
Aq u a LinQ
N etwork I
nterface
aqua
acousti
c qual
i
ty
U K D istribu tion by
U K au thoriseddeal
ers:
the
aud i
o,
consultants
EliteAud ioU K
El
i
UK
4 Zephyr Hou se,C al
l
eva P ark,Al
derm aston,RG 7 8 JN
U nit10 C om iel
aw Farm ,Anstru ther,KY10 2RE
01 1 8 98 1 98 91
08 00464 7 27 4
info@ au dioconsu l
tants.co.u k
info@ el
iteau diou k .com
aud io co n sultan ts.co .uk
eliteaud io uk.co m
LAB
REP ORT
M U SICA L F IDELIT Y M 8X T T
ABOVE:A DIN-termin ated aud i
o cabl
epl
ug s i
n to th e baseo fth eto n earm,servi
ng a
termin albo xth ato f
f
ersbo th RCA an d balan ced X LR o utputs [th elatterf
o rMCso n l
y)
An o utbo ard '
w allw art'DC PSU f
eed sd i
rectl
y in to th eAC mo to rh o usi
ng
atodds w ith the l
arge,heavyw eight
tu rntabl
e sitting on m y rack.
This sense ofm u sicalcontrol
extends u p throu gh the m idband,
w here the M8 xTT displ
ays im pressive
skil
l
s in term s ofperform er and
instru m entalpl
acem ent. No,it
doesn’tq u ite have the im age w idth
ofa M ichel
lOrbe or the front-toback stage depth ofan SME M odel
12 M k 2 [HFN Ian '23],bu tfew
tu rntabl
es do. W hatitdoes have
isa k nack ofensu ring individu al
el
em ents ofatrack are k eptcl
ear
in their ow n space. You m ightfind
you rsel
foccasional
l
y pick ing u p
on som ething w ithin a piece and
w ondering ifyou ’dnoticed itbefore.
SILKY SM OOTH
in the top end. Mu sicalFidel
ity's
tu rntabl
e is cl
ean,sil
ky and open.
The tonearm w ork ed su perbl
y
w ith m y C l
earau dio MC Essence
cartridge,pl
aying to its strengths
ofinsightand cl
arity bu tw ithou t
u ndu e hardness or 'spit’.This m eant
crisp yetsm ooth cym bal
s and
percu ssion,and stringed instru m ents
im bu edw ith a sense ofreal
ism ,
bu tno screech or discom fort. The
potentialto u se the MSxTT w ith
other tonearm s isappeal
ing,and I
can think ofafew thatIw ou l
d be
interestedto try. Thatsaid,Ihave a
su spicion thatany sw ap w ou l
d al
so
serve to il
l
u strate thatMF's in-hou se
1Oin tonearm real
l
y issom ething of
a star,and w el
lm atched to the rest
ofthe design.
W hil
e the M8 xTT general
l
y
begu il
es in term s ofrhythm ,im pact
and its abil
ity to u nravelcom pl
ex
m el
odies,som e ofthe m ost
m em orabl
e sessions Ihadw ith this
deck invol
ved m aterialthatw as a
l
otsim pl
er. The track 'Anyw ay'from
D u tch singer El
ies S prings'Reveal
al
bu m [
V ertere RecordsVLR-0 0 1ELLES]featu res nothing m ore than
vocal
s,acou stic/siide gu itars and
acou stic bass,bu tthe rendition
offered by Mu sicalFidel
ity's new
tu rntabl
e w as both u pl
ifting and
insightfu l
. S prings'soft, airy vocal
s
sou nded l
ifel
ik e asthey proj
ected
from m y l
ou dspeak ers,w hil
e the
acou stic gu itar,gentl
y pl
ayed in
the back grou nd by C arol
ine Kam p,
show ed pl
enty ofsu btl
e detail
.
W hil
e the MSxTT's architectu ralD NA can cl
earl
y be traced back
to the M1 [
boxou t,p49|. incl
u ding its retention ofan inverted
bearing,this l
atestversion benefits from im provedtol
erances
and m aterial
s. N otabl
y,the Joinedpl
atters'are al
l
oy here,not
acryl
ic,tak ing the rotating m ass to 10 k g w hil
e the bearing
pointisnow ceram ic rather than hardenedsteel
. The u pshot
i
savery l
ow -7 1.5dB bearing ru m bl
e,redu cedstil
ifu rther to a
spectacu l
ar ~ 73.5dB w hen m easu redthrou gh-the-groove w ith
the recordw eightin pl
ace ^OHz ^Ok l
-te. D I
N-B w td re. 1kHz /5cnV
sec).The u ndersiz edpl
atter spindl
e assists in redu cing the direct
transm ission ofbearing noise into the vinylLP su bstrate,ensu ring
one ofthe 'q u ietest'pl
atters ofany deck tested in HFN. S tart-u p
tim e i
sal
eisu rel
y 7-8 secs andthe (absol
u te) speederror isa
m inim al-0 .0 5% . how ever,anddespite the originalD C m otor
being repl
acedby a synchronou sAC type here,the MSxTT su ffers
from a l
ow -rate driftthatcontribu tes to a high (by the standards
ofits ow n P ro-Jectdecks)0 .22% peak w ow [
see G raph 1,bel
ow j
.
The partnering 10 in tonearm isvery su bstantialindeed,its
chrom ed andtaperedtu be term inated in a l
arge,fixedheadshel
l
(the cartridge m ou nting sl
ots achieve the correctoffsetangl
e
even ifthe 'shel
litsel
fl
ooks too ‘
straight’). Effective m ass i
savery
high 18 -19g so l
ow com pl
iance MC s are de rigueur. The m assive
acryficyok e su rrou nding the bearing proper su ccessfu l
l
y diffu ses
any very l
ow freq u ency tu be m odes,so there is'energy'from 20 8 0 Hz on the C SD w aterfal
lbu tno distinctresonances. Instead,
there i
sa (harm onic) m ode at140 Hz anda higher-Q bending
at8 10 Hz associatedw ith the headshel
lpl
atform [
see G raph 2J.
B earing pl
ay isim perceptibl
e andfriction <1Om g. PM
RIB-TICKLING
And the acou stic bass?W el
l
,that
w as tru ly vibrant. Each string pl
u ck
w as vivid,w ith the rich andfu l
som e
tone thatm akes the instru m ent
su ch aj
oy to behol
d. How ever,w hil
e
appreciating this,1w as al
so aw are
thatthose chu nk y bass notes w ere
reaching m e as m u ch throu gh m y
ribcage asm y ears. There real
l
y
isnothing q u ite l
ik e both hearing
andfeel
i
ng a perform ance l
ik e this,
w hich isw here the M8 xTT acq u its
itsel
fw ith architectu ralstyl
e.0
T h e MusicalFid elity M8xT T i
sa
m asterclass i
n takin g a classic
d esig n an d brin g in g itrig h t
up to d ate.W h ile ph ysically
an d so n ically rem in iscen to fits
f
o rebear[see bo xo ut, p49], th e
M8xT T h as been raised up by
Pro -Ject’sturn table d esig n ers an d th ere’sth e pro m ise o fm o re
to co m e w ith th e upg rad ed
PSU .Superbly builtan d very
f
in e so un d in g ,th e M8xT T i
sa
w elco m e to uch o f
'm o d ern retro ’.
SoundQ u al
l
y:8 6%
■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
ABOVE:W o w an d f
lutterre.31 50Hz to n e at5cm /sec
(plo tted ± 1 50Hz,5Hz permin o rd ivi
sio n )
ABOVE:Cumulative to n earm reso n an td ecay
spectrum, illustratin g vario us bearin g ,pillaran d 'tube'
vibratio n mo d es span n in g 1 00Hz-1 0kHz o ver40msec
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
33.32rpm (-0 .055E)
T urn table speed erro rat33.33rpm
r
r i
a n
ai
s
m
i
i t
b ii
ii
■
7-8 sec
T im e to aud ible stabilisatio n
PeakW o w fFlutter
0 .22^ /0 .0 5^
Rum ble (Bil
entgroove^ D IN Hw td)
-73.5dB
Rum ble (throu gh bearing,D I
N b w Ld)
-71.5d8
Hum & No ise (u nw tdhreI
. to 5cm /sec)
-62S dB
■ ■■
* 100
P o w erCo n sum ptio n
6-12W (1W standby)
Dim en sio n s (W HD . w ith l
id) /W eig h t
533x245x413m m ;31.5kg
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 51
B
/ / / /
.
Netw ork-attached DAC/ streamer
Made by: Matrix Electronic Technology Co. Ltd, China
Supplied by: Signature Audio Systems, UK
Telephone: 07738 007776
w w w *m a * r *x 'd'g'" c o m ‘’ w w w .signaturesystems.co.uk
M atrix A udioE lementX 2 P ure
Pure in nam e and hi-fi heart, M atrixAudio’s 1 0th anniversary Elem ent X2 m odel loses
its headp hone am p but gains a p air of new , cutting-edge ESS Sabre DACs
Review : M ark Craven Lab: Pau l M iller
hile the list of ‘legacy p roducts’ sp orts a sm artly finished alum inium chassis,
on M atrixAudio’s w ebsite
m easuring a slim 58 m m high and 340m m
w ide, only now w ith new CBV B (Ceram ic
begins w ith the D A-1 00 Plus
DAC,w hich debuted in 2006 ,
BallV ibration Buffer) feet that are said to
the Chinese brand insists it only real
im lpyrove stability and vibration dam p ing.
began life in 201 3 w hen it w as registered
The rem oval ofthe headp hone am p
as M atrix Electronic Technology Co. ‘Before is all p art ofthe unit’s ‘Pure’p hilosop hy,
that, M atrixAudio existed in the form of
as it m eans the line outp ut stage enjoys
a studio’,says m arketing m anager Yang
exclusive use ofthe p ow er sup p ly.This also
Tao.This exp lains w hy the literature for the
reduces the p ossibility of
new Elem ent X2 Pure netw ork D AC (and
extraneous noise ham p ering
1
the sticker that graces the top ofthe unit)
p erform ance, but I’d
p roclaim s it a celebratory m odel, launched
hesitate to suggest that
to m ark the com p any’s 1 0th anniversary.
the m ore m ultifunctional
Okay,ten years m ight not seem as
Elem ent X2 m odel is an
im p ressive as som e ofthe m ilestones
‘im p ure’version...
celebrated by other audio brands recently,
Also in p ursuit of sonic
including NAD [50 years; /7F/V Ap r ’23]
, SM E excellence, the toroidal
[6 0 years; H F/V Jul ’22]and Thorens (1 40
p ow er transform er has been up graded
years!), but it help s reinforce the idea that
in the Elem ent X2 Pure to a new O -core
typ e, M atrix Audio suggesting this delivers
‘Chinese hi-fi’is not new . Furtherm ore,
the Elem ent X2 Pure ap p ears w orthy of its
a m ore uniform electrom agnetic field reducing losses - just as the regulation is
elevated status, and acts as an effective
calling card for a brand develop ing at p ace. equip p ed w ith LDO (low drop -out) devices
throughout, rather than a m ix of LDO
and DC/DC converters. Furtherm ore,the
PU RE REA SON IN G
Priced £4500, this is the flagship D AC
Elem ent X2 Pure’s audio p ath is entirely
in M atrixAudio’s lineup , above both the
£3250 X-Sabre 3 [HFN Ap r ’22]and £4400
Elem ent X2 [HFN O ct ’22]
.The nam e
confirm s it’s an up grade ofthe latter m odel
- itself a develop m ent ofthe original
Elem ent X [HFN Jan ’2 1 ]
- but the w ord
‘Pure’is doing a lot of heavy lifting. There
are enough changes here to justify M atrix
Audio sim p ly calling it the Elem ent X3.
In short,w hat w as once a DAC/p ream p /
headp hone am p has now becom e a DAC/
p ream p - gone are the 6 .35m m and
3.5m m front-p anel headp hone sockets
ofthe Elem ent X2. This m akes the unit
a little less of a desktop audio slam -dunk
than its sibling, but otherw ise the form
factor encourages such use. Like the
p redecessor m odel,the Elem ent X2 Pure
W
D C coup led and now includes m achined
alum inium shielding.
F LY IN G T HE F LA G
H ow ever,the m ost significant up grade
arguably concerns the D AC stage, w here
the Elem ent X2 Pure features p airs of ESS’s
latest flagship ES9 039 PRO DACs, rather
than the ES9 038 PRO ofthe X2 m odel.W ith
one ESS chip used for each
channel, the sym m etrical
layout ofthe Elem ent X2
Pure is also essentially
dual-m ono [see inside
p icture, below ]
.
O utside ofthese not
inconsiderable up grades,
there’s m uch that w ill
be fam iliar to ow ners ofthe Elem ent X2.
Back p anel connections include fixed or
variable balanced XLR and unbalanced
RCA line outs, p lus USB-B,S/PDIF, H DM I
and l2S digital inp uts for handling files up
to 7 6 8 kH z PCM and D SD 1 024, dep ending
on the inp ut.A U SB-C p ort p rovides for
p layback from local storage, next to 1 2V
trigger in/out and Ethernet for a netw ork
Thebassline
purredbeneath
thecash
registereffects’
RIG H T: A linearPSU [b ottom left]feed s m u ltip le
regu lated su p p liesforthe 2.4 /5.0G Hz W ireless
Ethernetand qu ad -core ARM CPU b oard [top ]
and fu lly b alanced analogu e ou tp u tstage [right]
featu ring a p airof8-channelESS9039PRO DACs
52
w w w .hifinew s.co.u k
D ECEM BER 2023
hook-up should you rather not use the
unit’s onboard W i-Fi. H ere it’s p erhap s
w orth noting that the ‘Pure’ethos hasn’t
extended to a low -noise ‘Fibre Ethernet’
p ort, as seen on recent netw ork p roducts
including H iFi Rose’s RSI30 [HFN O ct ’23]
.
Control ofthe D AC is achieved in a
variety of w ays.The Elem ent X2 Pure is
sup p lied w ith an (unchanged) rem ote for
p layback com m ands, inp ut sw itching,
volum e and filter selection [see PM ’s
boxout, below ]
, w hile the M A Rem ote
ap p adds deep er settings, including
asynchronous/synchronous up sam p ling and
DPLL configuration [see PM ’s Lab Rep ort,
p 55]
. Roon Ready status p rovides another
avenue, as does the 3.5in colour disp lay.
Introduced as a design tw eak on the X2
m odel,w hen p laying m usic this disp lay w ill
show album art,file typ e, volum e,etc, but
a sw ip e of a finger takes you into m enus
covering netw ork setup ,firm w are, inp uts,
filters and m ore. It even offers touchsensitive transp ort controls, next to the
D AC’s p hysicalvolum e rotary.
O ne thing for M atrixAudio to m aybe
address... the front p anel disp lay can be
set to a high brightness that m akes it even
easier to read from across a room , but
this also ram p s up the brightness of the
standby/p ow er LED to a distracting level!
(P
EM OT ION A L RESCU E
M inor niggles aside,the Elem ent X2 Pure is
a treat to use. It’s intuitive and resp onsive,
and the slick op eration is m atched by an
equally slick sound.This D AC delivers fine
detail and insight, but it can be energetic
and lively too, w ith an excellent feelfor
the low octaves and an effortless vibe to
its m usic-m aking. Listening to it doesn’t
becom e an exercise in sterility, or have
you w ondering about the hardw are in
your m usic chain. It w ill sim p ly have you
tap p ing your feet along to rock and sw ep t
up in the em otion of orchestral scores.The
com bination of Perlisten’s S5t floorstanders
[p 6 2]and Prim are A35.2 am p lification [HFN
D ec ’1 9 ]w as no im p edim ent, of course!
RIN GIN G T HE CHA N GES
The Elem en tX2 Pu re is on e of the firsthi-fi solu tion s to
em p loy ESS9s latest8Sab re Pro9D AC,the ES9039PRO w hich,
like its p red ecessors,offers d esign ers seven altern ative
d igital filter m od es. The op tion s are 8tw eaked 9in this D AC
w ith the Brickw all filter rem oved an d the 8H yb rid 9typ e
rep laced b y 8Low D isp ersion 9w hich,in p ractice,is a very
sim ilar hyb rid ised m in im u m p hase filter. W ith this,p lu s its
d efau ltM inim u m Phase filter,an d Fastan d Slow Roll-off
op tion s,the X2 Pu re has fou r m in im u m p hase typ es offerin g
little or no (acau sal) p re-rin gin g com b in ed w ith red u ced laten cy. The three lin ear
p hase filters (A p od isin g,Fastan d Slow Roll-off) have p re- an d p ost-rin gin g b u t
red u ced p hase d istortion . O n ce again ,how ever,w hatyou selectfrom M atrix
A u d io9s m enu is n otn ecessarily the filter you thin k...
Click on 8Low D isp ersion 9an d you getthe 8A p od isin g9filter - ifyou w an t
the Low D isp ersion filter then select8M inim u m Fast9in stead .And ifyou w an t
8M inim u m Fast9,select8M inim u m Slow 9(w hich is activated b y clickin g on
8A p od isin g9).The d efau lt8M in im u m 9an d 8Fast/Slow Lin ear9filters selectthe
correctcoefficien ts in the ES9039PRO ! The 8real9FastM inim u m [b lack,in set
G rap h],FastLin ear an d A p od isin g [green ] all have sharp roll-offs (the Low
D isp ersion filter,red ,has an early b u tsteep roll-off) w ith good stop b an d
rej
ection [see Lab Rep ort,p 55]. By con trast,the M inim u m ,Slow M inim u m
an d Slow Lin ear [red ]filters afford gen tler treb le roll-offs an d p oorer stop b an d
rej
ection . These filters com e in to their ow n w ith higher sam p le rate files. PM
ABO VE: The Elem entX2 Pu re9s m achined -from solid alloy case inclu d es a 3.5in tou chsensitive
d isp lay and rotary encod er.Itm ay b e controlled
via the tou chscreen,rem ote [p 55]orM A ap p
Playing ‘Breathe’,from The Prodigy’s
T he Fat Of T he Land [XL Recordings;
44.1 kH z/1 6 -bit]
, it becam e easy to
ap p reciate the skill of p roducer/bandleader Liam H ow lett.This is a chart-friendly
slab of breakbeat dance m usic,w ith p lenty
of snarled ‘singing’from frontm an Keith,
but the com p osition w as revealed as
im p eccably detailed,from the strum m ed
guitar riffthat op ens it through to the w ide
stereo im aging and p in-p oint p ercussive
details.And the Elem ent X2 Pure unearthed
allthis w hile ensuring the drum s slam m ed
and the bass rolled ap p rop riately.
Billy Joel’s ‘Ain’t No Crim e’[P iano M an,
M obile Fidelity Sound Lab; 8 8 .2kH z/24-bit]
sounded just as infectious, rollicking along
w ith a great sense offluidity. O rgan and
bass guitar p rovided deep , rich w eight
as a counterp oint
to Joel’s vocal and
up p er-register p iano
licks.There are
backing vocal ‘w oos’
and bluesy guitar
m om ents, and these
w ere all served up as
one glorious, good
tim e w hole.
U sing the M A
Rem ote ap p or
handset to sw itch
betw een the D AC’s PCM filters is easiest for
A/B com p arisons, although Icouldn’t com e
to any definite p reference w hen cycling
through Ap odising, Linear Phase Slow RollOff,etc. Iexp ect m any w ill be hap p y to set
and forget,focusing instead on this unit’s
im p ressive general p erform ance.
DRIVIN G LESSON S
U sed w ith the default M inim um Phase
filter, it delivered the op ening one-tw o
p unch of Dire Straits’M aking M ovies set
[V ertigo; 44.1 kH z/1 6 -bit]w ith an enjoyable
balance of p ow er and p oise. ‘Tunnel
O f Love’op ens w ith som e Rogers and O
D ECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
53
B R IN G T H E ST U D IO H O M E
Wi
th prod i
gy,w e’re bui
l
di
ng on ourbel
i
ef th at
ul
tra-h i
gh -resol
uti
on
l
oud speakers,
properl
y
d esi
gned , can be used th rough out th e enti
re
aud i
o ch ai
n. Th at’s w h y our d esi
gns are i
n
com posers’ m usi
c-room s, record i
ng stud i
os,
and al
lth e w ayth rough to th e h om e - d el
i
v eri
ng
th e ori
gi
nalperform ance d i
rectl
y to th e l
i
stener.
Desi
gned and bui
l
ti
n-h ouse h ere i
n Bri
tai
n,
th e
com pact prod i
gyl stand m ount and
fl
oorstand i
ng prod i
gy5 both d el
i
v erstaggeri
ng
cl
ari
ty and d epth of bass seem i
ngl
y beyond
th ei
r si
ze, th anks to our ATL tech nol
ogy - just
partof th e i
nnov ati
v e PM C th i
nki
ng packed i
nto
th ese speakers.
G etcl
oser- m ak e contact
M ADE I
N
BRI
TAI
N
sal
es@ pm c-speakers.com
w w w .pm c-speakers.com
REPORT
2So n HDMI(up
ABOVE:Di
gi
tali
n sin cl
ud ew ired /w i
rel
essEth ern et,HOM IARC,an d l
to 7 68kHz PCM,DSD256 asDo P an d DSD1 024n ati
vel
y),U SB-B (al
so 7 68kHzPCM an d
DSD256 asDo P),2xo ptical/co axS/PDIF an d extern a!f
i
l
esvi
a U SB-C.An alo g ueo uts
(f
i
xed o rvari
abl
e)areo f
f
ered o n RCAsan d bal
an ced X LRs
Ham m erstein carou selm u sic that
crack l
es enou gh to m ak e you think
you ’ve bl
ow n atw eeter,before the
sou nd ‘cl
eans u p’ and the band gets
to w ork . There’sthe driving u rgency
to the rhythm section andthe
au thentic ‘tw ang’ ofa Fender S trat
to enj
oy,before w e reach the song’ s
break dow n,w here the El
em ent
X 2 P u re exposedthe nu ances in
Knopfl
er’ sresigned,l
ovel
orn vocal
,
l
ending the song the em otionalheft
itdem ands. Fol
l
ow -u p track ‘Rom eo
AndJu l
iet’w inds the pace dow n,the
u se ofa resonator gu itar l
ightening
the sou nd,bu tthe bass and dru m s
stil
lhad aw onderfu lw arm th.
ON T HE M ON EY
The precision ofthis D AC ’sdel
ivery
andfocu s ofits sou ndstaging m ade
cl
ear the differences in produ ction
betw een ZZ Top’sTresHom b res
al
bu m from 1973[
W arner Bros;
96k Hz /24-bit],andtheir best-sel
l
ing
198 1 setE l
i
m i
nator[
W arner Bros;
44.1 k Hz /16-bit]. The form er shines a
l
ighton the gu itars w ith aforw ard,
open sou nd,w hil
e the l
atter -w hich
saw the Texan trio add synthesisers
and dru m m achines - pu ts B il
l
y
G ibbons'six-string fu r ther back ,
aim ing for athick er,
m ore atm ospheric
feel
. D ifferent
approaches,bu t
both thril
l
ing.
The rel
entl
ess
bass gu itar on
E l
i
m i
nators 'G im m e
Al
lYou r Lovin" w as
cl
earl
y defined,
bu titw asn’tthe
bestexam pl
e of
LEFT :T h e El
emen t
X 2 Purei
n cl
ud esa
ph ysi
calh an d seti
n
ad d itio n to th e MA
Remo teapp (f
or
i
Ph o n e,i
Pad an d
An d ro i
d ),o f
f
eri
ng
in putsel
ecti
on ,
vo lume,m utean d
accessto th e seven
LPCM d i
gi
talf
i
tters
the El
em entX2 P u re’ sfu l
l
-range
prow ess. M ore indicative w as the
title track ofKendrick S cott’sW e Are
The Drum [
Bl
u e N ote;96k Hz /24-bit],
w here the j
az z dru m m er's pl
aying
w as accom panied by strings,brass
and bass cl
arinetofrem ark abl
e
w eightand body,or P ink Fl
oyd's
‘M oney’ [The Dark Si
de O fThe M oon;
P ink Fl
oyd Records;D S D 64],w here
each note ofthe bassl
ine pu rred
beneath the cash register effects.
As a netw ork ed D AC /pream p,
there are variou s w ays to u se the
El
em entX2 P u re,bu tfor m u ch of
m yl
istening Iran itstraightinto
the aforem entioned P rim are A35.2
pow er am p,stream ing via Roon.
This m ade for afu ss-free,cl
u tterfree system and l
ong,j
u k ebox-styl
e
l
istening sessions w here the D AC ’s
defined,open sou nd appeared
su ited to every fl
avou r ofm u sic.
The genre-hopping exu berance
ofAm adou & M ariam 's Di
m anche
A B am ako al
bu m [
B ecau se Mu sic;
44.1 k Hz /16-b it],w here African,
M iddl
e Eastern and W estern
instru m ents bu bbl
e aw ay in a
bl
u es/reggae-tinged m el
ting pot,
spotl
ighted the El
em entX2 P u re’s
abil
ity to captu re tim braldifferences
and m icrodynam ics. The grooving
gaitandvocalpresence of‘Senegal
FastFood'w as so enj
oyabl
eI
tried to sing al
ong - despite not
u nderstanding the French l
yrics... 0
M atrix Aud io ’slittle birth d ay
presen tm akes a big impressio n .
Okay,th is ‘P ure’ iteratio n o f
th e Elem en tX 2 n o lo n g er
caters to h ead ph o n e users, but
o th erw ise it’sa d ig italf
ro n t-en d
o fm ultitud in o us talen ts.Ro o n
Read y, app co n tro llable an d w ith
a superio rto uch screen d isplay,
it’sa g en uin e pleasure to use, an d
th e upg rad ed DAC an d an alo g ue
o utputstag es yield a so un d th at’s
revealin g an d clean yetvibran t.
SoundQ u al
l
y:8 8%
o -!■ ■ ■
J M l-
-
M atrix Au dio's w ebsite tal
k s abou tthe earl
y adoption ofESS'
s
ES90 39P RO D AC in the El
em entX 2 P u re - a pair ofthese
8 -channeiD AC s. in fact- al
ongside im provem ents to the P SU
passive com ponents and interm ediate D SP . Otherw ise the X 2
P u re iscl
earl
y bu r ftonto the El
em entX 2 chassis [
HF7V O ct'22].
m inu s the fatter's headphone am p bu tretaining the slight‘m ixu p'in digitalliiter sel
ection [
see boxou t,p53]. TheX 2 P u re's
4.36V m axim u m bal
anced ou tpu t, su perb l
ow -l
evellinearity
(goodto ±0 .1 dB over a Fu l
l110 dB dynam ic range) and 116.2dB
A-w td SI
N r atio are essential
l
y u nchanged over the X 2 bu tthe
new com er's low er lO ohm sou rce im pedance (versu s 96ohm )
indicates the pream p ou tpu thas been im proved beyondthat
su ggested in MA's prom otionall
iteratu re. rendering the X 2 P u re
l
ess sensitive to choice or l
ength ofinterconnect.
S im il
arl
y,the X 2 P u re achieves even low er distor tion at
0 .0 0 0 0 1-0 .0 0 0 15% (OdBFs,20 H2-20 k Hz ) w hil
e hol
ding to a
m ere 0 .0 0 0 0 9-0 .0 0 0 25% over the top 30 dB ofits dynam ic
range [
see G raph 1,bel
ow ]. Tested in asynchronou s m ode,j
itter
depends on both sou rce q u ality andthe sel
ected D P LL (D igital
P hase Lock Loop) bandw idth,w ith the l
ow (narrow ) D P LLyiel
ding
the l
ow est,*'6psec [
see G raph 2]. Final
l
y. Idiscu ss the response
andtim e dom ain behaviou rs ofthe digitalfil
ters on p53w hil
e
the stopband rej
ection ofthe lreal
'M inim u m . Apodising,Linear
Fastand S l
ow . M inim u m Fastand Stow ,and Low D ispersion
filter types are 75dB . 10 9dB ,8 1 dB. 8 dB . 74dB ,8 dB and 8 dB
respectivel
y. The 'S l
ow 'and low D ispersion'filter types are best
depl
oyedw ith higher (96k Hz and above) sam pl
e rate fil
es w here
any al
iasing im ages are pu shedw ellou tside the au dioband. P M
e
-4*
J fl
44
-M
-IM
ABOVE:Disto rtio n versus 48 kHz/24-bitd ig italsi
g n al
levelo vera 1 20d B d yn amic ran g e (black, 1 kHz;blue,
20kHz).No te exten d ed Od B to -1 40d B Y scal
e
ABOVE:Hig h reso lutio n 48 kHz/24-bitjitterspectra
w ith n o rmal[red ] an d lo w [black] DPLL ban d w id th s
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
M axim um o utp ut levelfim p ed an ce
4.36V rm s / 10 chm (XLR ou t)
A-w td Sf
N ratio (
SfP D l
l
- fN etw ork )
116.2dB f116.2dB
D isto rtio n (1k Hz ,OdB F?/-3
0 dB Fs)
0 .0 0 0 0 1% j
f0 .0 0 0 0 9%
Disto rtio n & No ise (20 kHz . OdBF^-SOdBFs)
0 .0 0 0 15%
Freq .resp .(20 Hz -20 k Hz l'45k Hz f90 k Hz )
+ 0 .0 Lu -0 .0 dB ,'-0 .3dB /-0 .2dB
D ig ita ljitter (48 k Hz /96k Hz )
6piec / l
Op^ec.
Reso lutio n (1kHz @ -l
OOdB Fi^-1 l
OdBFs)
±OJdB f±0 .1dB
P o w erco n sum p tio n
17W (4W standby)
Dim en sio n s (W HD ) / W eig h t
340 x58 x259m m
DECEM BER 2023
f0 .0 0 0 25%
/4.2k y
W W W .h if
in ew S.CO.uk
55
IN T EGRA T ED A M PLIF IER
Integratedtu be am pl
ifier. Ratedat2OW /8 ohm
Made by:Trafom atic Ltd,S erbia
S u ppl
ied by:Absol
u te Sou nds Ltd
Tel
ephone:0 20 8 971390 9
W eb:w w w .trafom aticau dio.com ;w w w .absol
u tesou nds.com
P rice:£19,998
TrafomaticR hapsody_ _ _ _ _ _ _
The l
atestaddition to Absol
u te Sou nds’ bou tiq u e ‘Ten’ range -the Trafom atic Rhapsody
from Serbia - i
sa singl
e-ended,30 0 B -basedtriode tu be am p rated ata m ighty 20 W
Review : K en K esslerLab: PaulM iller
sfar-fetched asthis m ay seem ,
/ \
given thatm ostpost-Mil
l
ennial
s
have yetto em brace hi-fi,w e are
l
iving in another au dio ‘G ol
den
Age’.This isn’tthe pl
ace to rattl
e offa l
ist
ofgem sthathave crossed m y path j
u st
since the C ovid m oratoriu m ended,bu tthe
W estern El
ectricW E-91B [HFN Feb ’23],a
trio ofD eVore speakers [HFN Apr ’21,Mar
& Au g ’23],andfam il
y ofD S Au dio optical
cartridges [HFN Oct’21 & Oct’23]are
am ong the m any thatbeg m y repeating of
the hom il
y,‘You ’ve never haditso good’.
Trafom atic’sRhapsody (M2-15 Anniversary
stereo P SE 30 0 B tu be)integrated am pl
ifier
j
oins them ,andem phatical
l
y so.
Even the £19,998 price su rprises:Ireal
l
y
thou ghtitw ou l
d be m ore. Its physical
presence,a brace of30 0 Bs per channel
,a
thou ght-provok ing w eightof32k gs,sexy
m eters,m yriad oddl
yl
abel
l
ed knobs and
sw itches -this isthe stu ffto m ake even a
j
aded au diophil
e’sheartskip a beat. And
w ith itcom ing from Serbia,Ihad no idea
w hatitw ou l
d sou nd l
ike,despite having
seen Trafom atic atnu m erou s show s [
see
p35]over the pastdecade-and-a-hal
f.
VA RIET Y SHOW
The Rhapsody ispartofa m assive range
w hich incl
u des six pow er am ps,three
pream ps andtw o phono stages,eight
integrated m odel
s ofvarying topol
ogies
incl
u ding singl
e-endedand pu sh-pu l
l
designs,three headphone am ps,anda
handfu lofaccessories.The variety show s
thatTrafom atic isn’tl
ocked into a singl
e
am pl
ifier type,the Rhapsody being a l
ine
l
evel
-onl
y ‘P aral
l
elSingl
e-Ended’ design.
Aside from the needto adda phono
section ifyou pl
ay vinyl
,it’scom prehensive
by m oststandards,even incl
u ding a rem ote
control[
see p61]for pl
ayback l
evel
s.
Set-u p w as a no-brainer,aside from one
setoftoggl
e sw itches,w hich Iw il
lgetto in
RIG HT :In sid eth e Rh apso d y revealin g th e
po in t-to -po in tw irin g ,partly w ith vd H cable,
custo m o utp uttran sf
o rm ers [bo tto m ,lef
t/rig h t],
M un d o rfM Lytic PSU capacito rs [bo tto m ]an d
separate L/R PSU reg ulatio n [f
arlef
t/rig h t]
56
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
DECEMBER 2023
du e cou rse. S tarting atthe back [
see p61],
you ’l
lsee w hy,aseverything isinstinctive.
From l
eftto right,there isan earthing post,
three pairs ofphono sockets (charm ingl
y
l
abel
l
ed RC A 1,2 and 3
)anda pair ofXLR
inpu ts for a bal
ancedsou rce.The rather
fine m u l
ti-w ay binding
posts provide for both
4 and 8 ohm l
oads [
see
P M’sboxou t,p57],w hil
e
to the far rightare an
I
EC socketandavol
tage
sel
ector. Both sides of
the beau tifu l
l
y-finished,
m etal
l
ic verm il
l
ion
col
ou red chassis are l
ou vred,the l
eftside
al
so containing the on/offrocker.
tw o l
arge,il
l
u m inatedVU m eters. M irroring
the vol
u m e controlisanother bl
ack rotary
to choose from the three RC A inpu ts or the
one bal
ancedXLR inpu t.
It’sthe top view thatw il
ltick l
e those
w ho w antm ore than the m inim u m .
Acrossthe back ofthe
Rhapsody are three
m assive transform ers,
w hich - u nl
ik e too
m any - are hou sed in
su perbl
y anodisedcases.
N extcom es the row of
fou r El
ectro-Harm onix
30 0 B pow er triodes,
one paral
l
elpair per channel
,in front
ofw hich are tw o 6SN7s. Inbetw een the
6SN7s isa handy k nob to adj
u stthe VU
m eters’ sensitivity,w hich w il
lbe u sefu lif
you change l
ou dspeakersfrom say,su per
efficientto su bstantial
l
y hu ngrier andthe
VU m eter readings are either too l
ow ,or
'Thisisthestuff
thatmakesan
audiophile’s
heartskipabeat’
A DM IRIN G T HE VU
Seen from the front,the fascia sports a
m assive,scal
l
oped rotary k nob for vol
u m e,
w hich ism otorisedfor the rem ote. N extare
/
Z
f
in ew s'
'/ / / / /
F T A M FM h
LEFT :Ro tariesf
o r(m o to rised )
vo lum e [lef
t]an d in putselectio n
[rig h t]f
lan k tw o illum in ated ‘VU ’
m eters.U p to p ,selected 6SN7
d o uble-trio d es d rive parallel
pairso f300B p o w ertrio d es
co n f
ig ured in SE/ClassA
3
andanal
ytical
. Look
el
sew here for the
to tam e certain horn
heardthe differences
betw een assorted
m akes of30 0 Bs,and
1
asthe Rhapsody has
no aw k w ard cage t
o
■
rem ove,enthu siasts
m ightl
ike to try vintage
new -ol
d-stock val
ves,or
ash ou ton som e ofthe m ore prem iu m
are continu al
l
y sm acking the endstops at
w il
lbe dam aged ifthe sw itch issetto sol
id, spl
exam pl
es avail
abl
e today.
the far right‘redend’ ofthe scal
es.
asfor the El
ectro-Harm onix 30 0 Bs.
One m ore thing. Aside from the u su al
W hatneeds fu rther expl
anation are
REA DY T O ROLL
instru ctions abou tw arm -u p,ofw hich a
the fou r toggl
es - one per 30 0 B - m ark ed
There’sanother reason w hy this val
ve
m inim u m of15 m inu tes isrecom m ended,
‘Mesh’ and‘Sol
id’.This refers to the type
sw apping facil
ity w il
lendear the Trafom atic andthe ow ner’sm anu alw arning against
of30 0 B you are u sing.Asthe Rhapsody
haste w hen changing val
ves,there is
featu res au to-biasing,that’snotan issu e
to those ofatw eak y natu re. Asyou w il
l
another nice tou ch w ith safety in m ind.
shou l
dyou w ish to change val
ves. Mesh-vs- discover,the Rhapsody does notpray
Su ppl
iedw ith the u nitisa P erspex panel
Sol
idisanother m atter entirel
y,referring to to the 30 0 B SET hym n sheetin every
the type ofanode. Mesh anodes handl
el
ess param eter. Yes,it’ssw eetandw arm ,bu t
thatsl
ots into the front,the tw o apertu res
eq u al
l
y ittends tow ard the m ore precise
positionedj
u stabove each k nob on the
pow er than sol
id,so a m esh anode val
ve
fascia.Thisw il
l
preventaccidental
l
y
T A P DA N CIN G
bu m ping into
In co m m o n w ith m o sttube amps - trio d e o rpen to d e - th e
the hot-ru nning
Rh apso d y o f
f
ers tw o sets o ftran sf
o rm ertaps to step-d o w n
tu bes.Asfor space
th e h ig h vo ltag e/h ig h im ped an ce o utputo fits 300B po w er
considerations,
tubes to betterm atch th e lo w erim ped an ce an d h ig h er
the footprintis
470 x370 m m (w d)
curren td em an d o fth e attach ed lo ud speaker.Specif
ically,
and it’s260 m m
th e Rh apso d y h as 4m m o utputs [see p61 ] co n ceived to
‘m atch ’ n o m in al8o h m an d 4o h m lo ad s,even th o ug h , in
tal
lbu tthe l
atter is
incidental
:you w il
l
practice,very f
ew speakers pro vid e th is lin earim ped an ce.
In stead th e am plif
ier‘sees’ a lo ad th atsw in g s up an d
notw antanything
directl
y above it.
d o w n w ith f
req uen cy asth e vario us reactive co m po n en ts o f
cro sso veran d d rivers co m e in to play,causin g th e system respo n se to rise w ith
30 0 B triode am psw il
lnever be u ber
pow erfu l- the Rhapsody israted at
in creasin g speakerim ped an ce an d f
allw ith d ecreasin g speakerim ped an ce.
T h e severity o fth ese respo n se variatio n s i
sd eterm in ed by th e m ag n itud e
2x20 W ,thou gh P M su ggested a m u ch
l
ow er real
-w orl
dfigu re for m ating to
o fth e sw in g s in speakerim ped an ce vs.th e so urce im ped an ce o fth e am plif
ier
(~2o h m f
ro m 20Hz-20kHz f
o rth e Rh apso d y).Asth e Rh apso d y’streble respo n se
speakers [
see Lab Report,p61]. Sensitive
speakers l
ike the D eVore O/93s [HFN Mar
d ro ps aw ay q uite m arked ly via its 4o h m tap in to 4, 2 an d lo h m lo ad s [red , blue
’23]im m ediatel
y spring to m ind,andthese
an d g reen traces,in setG raph ] iti
scrucialto m atch itw ith speakers o f
f
erin g
w ere u sedfor m ostofm y l
istening,bu tI
a ‘brig h t’ respo n se, h ig h sen sitivity an d a h ig h ,o rin creasin g , HF lo ad im ped an ce.
did enj
oy near-m iracu l
ou s pairings w ith
Fo rK en ’slisten in g w e ch o se th e DeVo re O/93s [HFN M ar’23] - th ese o f
f
er
a usef
ul90d B sen sitivity co upled w ith a lo ad im ped an ce th at’sbro ad ly >7 o h m
m yl
egacy Q u ad ESL57s,andthe far new er
(20Hz-20kHz), h as acceptable sw in g s in ph ase an g le o f+54°/-60° th ro ug h th e
P MC prodigyl[HFN N ov ’23]w hich seem ed
bass an d a th o ro ug h ly ‘d riveable’ w o rse-case 3.1 o h m /99Hz EPDR.T h e black
happy enou gh in m y 12x18 ftroom .
trace [in setG raph ] sh o w s th e Rh apso d y’sexten d ed HF respo n se via its 8o h m tap
@ RHA PSODY IN RED
in to a n o n -reactive 8o h m lo ad w h ile th e d ash ed trace sh o w s th e respo n se via th e
For aforthcom ing rou nd-u p ofau diophil
e
sam e 8o h m tap in to th e DeVo re 0/93.T h ese relatively m o d est±1 .8d B respo n se
variatio n s,in th e bass,w illn o tbe d isruptive butth e Rh apso d y d rivin g a to ug h er
LP s,Ihave secu reda copy ofH i
tThe
speakervia its 4o h m tap m ig h tlo o k,an d so un d ,very d if
f
eren tin d eed .P M
B ongo! The Lati
n SoulO fTi
co Records
[
C raftRecordings C R0 0 660 ],a 2LP setG»
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
57
A rran U ltra L RCA G ru n
U LTRALATK
The perfect cable would never add or
subtract anything to or from the audio
signal. To get ever closer, we innovate.
We listen. We refine.
We designed every single aspect of Arran
to minimise any audible signature.
The less you hear of the cable itself, the
more music remains.
A TLA S
A new generation.Technically and sonically
sop histicated cables created to com p lem ent the
w orld's finest hificom p onents,the Arran fam ily
the performance connection
rep resents Atlas'm ost accom p lished O CC cop p er
a t l a s c a b l e s .c o m
audio cables to date.
D
E S
G
N
E
D
&
H
A
N
D
M
A
D
N
S C O
T L A
N
D
SA SA COK IC
RIG HT :T h e
Rh apso d y’s‘So lid /
M esh ’ to g g les can just
be seen o n th e to p plate
f
ro m th is an g le.T h ese set
th e an o d e d issipatio n f
o rth e
300B trio d es - ‘So lid ’ m o d e i
sf
or
300Bsth atrun ath ig h erpo w er
w ith both m ono and stereo tracks. Irealise
m any ofyou m ight never bother w ith
m ono, but it p roves usefulw hen assessing
any com p onent, esp ecially ifyou don’t
have a m ono cartridge or a m ono setting
on your am p or p ream p .You w ant a
rock-solid central im age regardless,w hich
the Rhap sody p rovided. M ore surp rising,
how ever,w as the w ay it handled these
incredible, Latin soul and jazz m ono tracks,
because one soon stop p ed thinking about
the single-channel p layback.
But that w asn’t the m ain reason this
‘various artists’com p ilation
p roved to be so revealing.
The p ercussion w hich
dom inates m uch ofthe
m usic from Tito Puente,
Ray Barretto and others
ofthat calibre has as
m uch character as
Kodo drum m ing, and it
im p ressed up on m e m ore than the clean
extrem e treble how the Rhap sody avoids
cliches about SET am p lifiers - even ifthey
m ay by now be rather outm oded.The
sound here w as deep , m assive and of the
sort w hich seem s to rollacross the floor
like the m ists in a H am m er flick.
as a review er: is the
sound enticing enough
to keep m e listening, even
ifthe m usic is so bad that I’ve
lost the w illto live?
Thanks to the Rhap sody’s seam less,
seductive p resentation, Iduly sat
through allfour sides. H ere, p erhap s, I
w as transp osing onto the designer [see
interview sidebar w ith Sasa Cokic, right]
a p ossible leaning tow ard thrash, grunge
or som e other dissonant genre, as this
w as recorded in 1 9 9 6 w hen Young w as
hanging around w ith PearlJam .And yet
this droning racket p roved involving and
hard to resist, like a train w reck.
Turning to som ething less likely to
require p aracetam ol, Ihave alw ays adored
the recently dep arted Loretta Lynn, and
consider m yself blessed
- no p un intended - to
ow n a cop y of H y m ns
on p ristine op en-reel
tap e [D ecca ST7 4-46 9 5]
.
G iven that there is a
level of hell aw aiting hi-fi
review ers, Iap p roached it
in a secular m ood, as it is,
content aside, p ure country m usic. Its star
qualities are her crystalline vocals, alm ost a
tem p late for distaff C&W w arbling, and the
m etallic attack of a banjo.
‘Iwallowedin
thesoundofa
full
-blown,roomfillingorchestra’
Y OU N G A T HEA RT
As this initial im p ression w as so favourable,
and Ididn’t w ant to think Iw as that easily
charm ed, Idug out one ofthe w orst LPs I
have ever heard.W hat’s so heart-breaking
about the soundtrack to D ead M an [V ap or
Records 9 36 2-46 1 7 1 -1 ]is that the horrible
screech w as m ade by NeilYoung, w hom
Iadore.W hat Iw anted to test here w as
som ething I’ve done for m ost of m y tim e
Trafom atic9s fou n d er,Sasa Cokit,
looks like he w as in a Balkan heavy
m etal b an d in the 1 980s,an d not
j
u stb ecau se of the H ard Rock Cafe
t-shirtan d the shad es.There9s a cool
gen otyp e in Eastern Eu rop e - in this
case,Serb ia - w hich su ggests a hard y
n atu re,as ifthey had to sm u ggle LPs
from the W estto hear rock m u sic.
Allthis rein forces m y b elief thathi-fi
d esign ers9p erson alities are often
reflected in their eq u ip m en t. So the
Rhap sod y rocks,u n like you r typ ical
300B-p ow ered SET.
Cokit: exp lain ed thatw hile
Trafom atic w as estab lished in 1 997,
the m an u factu re of Trafom atic
electronics d id n otstartu n til 2007,
u n d er the nam e Trafom atic A u d io. H e
says,8Id id n 9tw ork for other [au d io]
com p an ies,b u tTrafom atic m ad e
ou tp u tan d p ow er tran sform ers for
other hi-fi b ran d s. A lthou gh Istarted
m akin g am p lifiers officially on ly in
2007,the firstam p Iever m ad e,aged
1 3 years,w as a gu itar tu b e am p from
p arts Ifou n d in old rad io sets9.
Serb ia has a stron g hi-fi scen e,
Cokitcitin g,8su ccessfu l b ran d s
like Karan A cou stics,A u ris A u d io,
RAAL Requ isite,N AT A u d io,A cou stic
In vad er,V elikin ac A u d io Lab ,W ay
Cab les an d p rob ab ly m ore9.H ow
m u ch of the icon oclastic n atu re
of Trafom atic an d its hom elan d
b ran d s is d u e to Serb ia9s p reviou s
d etachm en tfrom hi-fi9s m ain stream
is hard to say,b u tCokitsays,8Id on 9t
look for in sp iration in other b ran d s.
In sp iration com es to m e from w ithin
- Ican 9texp lain it9.W hatTrafom atic
p ractices,thou gh,is a d ed ication to
m u sic. Like Isaid ,the b ran d /the m an
even looks like a rocker!
CON SIST EN T LY CON VIN CIN G
W hile these w ere anticip ated, and the
Rhap sody p roved as adroit w ith fem ale
vocals as w ith Latin p ercussion, Iw as
unp rep ared for the sp eed ofthe transients,
the crisp ness ofthe p lucking or the sound
of the banjo’s vellum head. It w as so truly,
convincingly authentic that Ihad to hear
it through sp eakers as sonically far ap art
as the Q uad ’57 and PM C p rodigyl, and it
rem ained consistently ‘real’from sp eaker
to sp eaker. Iw ould add here that Ip layed
the tap es through the am p lifier’s XLR inp ut G»
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
59
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NG ALL
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Experience the fu tu re ofau dio stream ing w ith the ARIES
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istening
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aG 3
processing pl
atform androbu stw irel
ess stream ing u p to
D S D 512,the ARIES G 2.2 hasthe pow er andrel
iabil
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su itthe m ostdem anding au dio system . N ative integration
w ith the beststream ing services,optionalSSD internal
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aHow you to access aw orl
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Engineeredto l
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Raising the bar for high-perform an
G 2.2 S tream ing D AC integrates the
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exceptionalanal
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D AC em pl
oys u niq u e digitalfil
tering e
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ogies,w hil
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al
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ow s the V EG A G 2.2 to operate independentl
y ofthe
sou rce signal
’sfreq u ency,el
im inating j
itter.Advanced
gal
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ation,aw hol
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y anal
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ifier section,
Cl
assA Orfeo ou tpu tm odu l
es,acopper su b-chassis,and
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ock s al
lcontribu te to the V EG A
G 2.2’sabil
ity to render you r m u sicw ith rem ark abl
e cl
arity
AU RALIC PRESS AW ARDS
-
••«*«
m jiw
r
Hif
lP ig
LA B
REP ORT
T RA F OM A T IC RHA PSODY
ABOVE:Fo url
i
n ei
n puts{th reeo n RCAsan d o n ebal
an ced pairo n X LRs)arejo in ed by
pai
rso f4m m speakertermin alsco n n ected to 8 an d 4o h m o utputtran sf
o rmertaps
-easil
y w or th the effortfor added
im pactin the low registers and
q u ieter back grou nd sil
ences.
Loretta isj
oined by a choru s
on ‘How G reatThou Art'and a
few other track s. The m u l
tipl
e
voices enj
oyed som e ofthe m ost
convincing grou ping one cou l
d hope
to hear,su ch that1w ished the tape
cam e w ith a road m ap or floor pl
an.
W hatever their actu all
ocation,they
w ere arrayed across the sou ndstage
w ithou tthatV iew m aster 3D fl
atness
w hich com prom ises stage depth.
M A GICA L A M P
Having sam pl
edthe sacred via
N ashvil
l
e,Icraved m ore spiritu albu t
orchestralm u sic. W ith C hristm as
approaching,Itu rned to tw o
open-reeltapes rife w ith choru ses:
the C ol
u m bia Mu sicalTreasu ries
Orchestra's The M agi
c O fChri
stm as
[
C ol
u m bia D 2T 5250 ]andArthu r
Fiedl
er andthe B oston P ops
Orchestra’sPop s Chri
stm asParty
[
RC A V ictor FTC 20 2 2]. Even ifyou
don’tcel
ebrate the
pl
easu res ofN oel
,I
gotta tellya:these
tapes are ofhi-fi
show dem o q u al
ity.
Trafom atic's
Rhapsody ensu red
thatiw al
l
ow ed
LEFT :T h ered l
acq uer
appl
i
ed to T raf
o matic'
s
si
mpl
e,al
l
o y remo te
co n tro lmatch esth e
un i
t'
s chassi
s.U p/
d o w n vo lumebutto n s
g o vern th e mo to ri
sed
co n tro lo n th e amp
in the room -fil
l
ing,fu l
l
-bl
ow n
orchestralreadings of"W hite
C hristm as’,‘S l
eigh Ride’ and ‘Santa
Cl
au s I
sC om ing To Tow n’,som e
w hol
l
y[
or hol
y)instru m ental
,others
w ith m u l
tipl
e voices to the fore.
W hatw as notcom prom ised,despite
the Rhapsody am pl
ifier eschew ing
l
u shness for the sake ofit,w as
thatsil
k y sheen w hich endears SET
designs to the faithfu l
. The bestw ay
to describe itis an inherentantidote
to l
istener fatigu e.
Ifthere is any lim itto this
am pl
ifier's sheer com m and,it
m ightprove to be the w attage,
bu tthatonl
y affects you r choice of
l
ou dspeak er. W hen pairedw ith highsensitivity m odel
s,the Trafom atic
Rhapsody earns the m ostgl
ow ing
testim ony 1can bestow on a produ ct
by sim pl
y stating one fact: m y
firstl
istening session ran for seven
u ninterru pted hou rs.Yes,seven. The
onl
y dow nside? Look ing atthe sm art
m eter in m y l
istening room .0
W ith the 'Anode D issipation'm ode setto 'S ol
id'the Rhapsody
su cceeds tn achieving its 2x20 W rated ou tpu tinto 8 ohm . al
beit
at7% THD . The rel
ationship ofdistortion versu s pow er ou tpu tis
fairl
yl
inear in this instance,the am pl
ifier offering 8 .3W . 12.OW
and 16.8 W into 8 ohm at2% , 3% and5% THD . respectivel
y,and
7.5W ,11.OW and 16.0 W into 4ohm (via the 4ohm tap) al
so at
2% .3
% and5% THD ,respectivel
y. There’sa l
ittl
e extra ou tpu t
avail
abl
e u nder dynam ic conditions,to the tu ne of20 W /8 ohm
and 13.5W . 6.5W and8 .5W into 4. 2 and 1ohm . respectivel
y,
via the 4ohm tap [
al
lu p to 5% distortion,see G raph 1 bel
ow ].
Sensitive l
ou dspeak ers,l
ike the D eVore m odel
s from Absol
u te
Sou nds’ Ten range,are idealpartners al
thou gh the am pl
ifier’ s
m odest8 3.5dB A w td SJN [
re. OdBW )and-63dB V residu alnoise
su ggests som e m il
d back grou ndhissm ay stil
lbe au dibl
e.
The Rhapsody’s’col
ou r'extends w el
lbeyond its gorgeou s
m etal
l
ic redchassis,particu l
arl
y atbassfreq u encies w here
THD is"2% at20 HZ/1W before fal
l
ing aw ay to a steady "0 .35%
throu gh m id andhigh freq u encies.Atj
u st5W ou tpu tinto 8 ohm .
distortion hits "9% f20 Hz - presu m abl
y throu gh transform er core
satu ration -and fal
l
sto a m inim u m of1.3-1.5% throu gh m id and
trebl
e[
see G raph 2.bel
ow ].This i
ssignificantl
y higherthan w e
typical
l
y m easu re from today’sl
ou dspeak ers at90 dB SP L|1m . for
exam pl
e.Additionalcol
ou r i
sintrodu cedfrom the Rhapsody's
interaction w ith the attached l
ou dspeak er's im pedance trend
[
see box ou t,p57]bu ti
sal
ready refl
ected in a response w hich
shiftsfrom a flat’ + 0 .4dB to -0 .6dB into 8 ohm dow n to + 1.OdB
to-20 .3dB into lohm (al
l20 Hz -20 k Hz ). Review s ofthe Rhapsody
shou l
dbe j
u dged asvery specific am pl
ifier/speak er com bos. P M
ABOVE:Dyn amic po w ero utputversus d isto rtio n in to
8o h m (black trace),4o h m (red ),2o h m (blue)an d
lo h m (g reen )speakerto ad s.Max.curren ti
s2.9A
1«
Atth e risk o fseem in g a so f
t
to uch , ]f
o un d m y tim e w ith th e
T raf
o m atic Rh apso d y alm o stto o
rew ard in g .W h ile its perf
o rm an ce
belies its po w erratin g ,th atm ig h t
stillpreclud e h un g rierspeakers.
Its o peratio n w as f
aultless,
th e f
acilities an d erg o n o m ics
textbo o k perf
ect.T h us Im ust
ackn o w led g e Sasa Co kic’smissio n
statem en t:th is am plif
ieri
sall
abo ut— an d o n ly abo ut- th e
music, iti
struly a tourde force.
Sound Qual
l
y:88%
d
I■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
mo
W
Ik
Ilk
44*
ABOVE:Disto rtio n versus f
req uen cy versus po w er
o utput(1 W /8o h m , black an d 5W /8 o h m ,red )
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
P o w ero utp ut
Dyn am ic p o w er
HD ,8 /4u lirn)
HD ,8 ,4 /2/f$
1*1m )
12W [
8 ohintap) ; llW (4 ohn
20 W / 13.5W *6.5W f8 .5W
O utp ut im p .(20 H2-20 k H2fl0 0 k H2)
1.9-2.B ohm I 2.6ohm
Freq .re$p .(20H2^ 20kH z|ri00kHz)
-b0 .4dB to-0 .6dB f-6 .8 JB
In p ut sen sitivity (f
or 0 dB W f20 W )
125m V /660 rnV
A-w td Sf
N ra tio [
re. 0 dB W /20 W )
8 3.5dB f96.5dB
fSoli
Disto rtio n (20 H^-20 k Hz , 1W ,
ni)
1.8 -0 .35ft
P o w erco n sum p tio n [
Idl
e/Rated u fp)
240 W f243W
r W ei
Dim en sio n s (W HD ) ,
g ht
47 Ox26 Ox37 Om ni f32k g
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 61
Three-way, five- driver floorst anding loudspeaker
Made by: Perlisten Audio, Verona, Wl, USA
Supplied by: Karma-AV Ltd, York
Telephone: 01423 358846
Web: w w w .perlist enaudio.com ;w w w .karma-av.co.uk
Prices: £13,600 ( £15,800 for SE/ High Gloss Ebony)
LOUDSPEAKER
P erlistenA udio S5t
Derived from Perlisten’s S7t flagship, and featuring the
same DPC array, the S5t is simply more ‘user-friendly’
Review: Mark Craven & Paul Miller Lab: Paul Miller
ew loudsp eaker brands com e
racing from the gate, but Perlisten,
from W isconsin, US, has gone from
unheard ofto a serious challenger
in very short order. First up , in 2022, w as
the EISA Aw ard-w inning S7 t floorstander
[HFN Ap r ’22]
, w hich introduced the
com p any as a high-end m arque, and this
w as quickly follow ed by its second-tier R
series [HFN Aug ’22]
. Now w e get the S5t,
essentially a slim m ed dow n version ofthe
S7 t, w ith allthe ap p ealthat this entails.
As Perlisten w ill have it,
requests for a version ofthe
S7 t m ore suited to sm aller
room s had becom e ‘too
num erous to ignore’,so the
S5t w as born. Selling for
£1 3,6 00 in its standard
black and w hite gloss
finishes, or £1 5,8 00 for the
Ebony op tion show n here, it really does
look like a baby brother to the S7 t. In fact,
the only visual difference betw een them is
that tw o drivers have gone m issing...
M eanw hile, side-facing vents tow ard the
bottom of the cabinet relate to the S5t’s
internal H elm holtz tubes, w hich can be left
fully op en or sealed.
CLOSED SA U CE
Interestingly, another sp ecification change
concerns the high-frequency resp onse,
w hich here is 32kH z as op p osed to the
S7 t’s 37 kH z, suggesting that although the
S5t features the ‘sam e exquisite DPC array’,
the sp eaker has been further ‘tuned’to
com p ensate for its reduced
driver com p lem ent.
Like KEF’s U niQ or
B8 <W ’s Tw eeter on Top ,
DPC is Perlisten’s secret
sauce. The result of an
extensive develop m ent
p rocess, including Com sol
acoustic m odelling, it
features a central 28 m m beryllium dom e
tw eeter flanked by 28 m m thin-p ly carbon
diap hragm (TPCD) m idrange drivers above
and below .Allthree units sit w ithin a
large, dished fibreglass w aveguide, w hich
- along w ith the crossover netw ork and
driver p osition - aim s to ensure the desired
horizontal and vertical disp ersion ofthe
sp eaker’s up p er-m id and treble.
W hile the S5t is sm aller than the S7 t, it’s
lost none of the bigger brother’s sense of
style.The look p erhap s fits the U K/Europ ean
idea of an ‘Am erican’sp eaker, p articularly
w ith the distinctive checkerboard finish to
the (also TPCD ) bass/m id drivers. But even
ifthis floorstander ap p ears less ‘sw ish’than
som e high-p rice rivals, build quality and
attention to detail is excellent.
The curved front baffle,finished in
black, blends w ellw ith the gloss cabinet
sides,w hile the rear-p anel sp eaker binding
p osts for its sp lit crossover are robust.The
circular feet that - in conjunction w ith a
‘Itunwrapped
thebusymi
x,
sounding
freshandnew'
POW ER OF T W O
W hich ones? Not any from the DPC
(D irectivity Pattern Control) array, as this is
a Perlisten sp eciality, a version ofw hich can
be found on all its sp eakers. Rather, it’s the
S7 t’s w oofers,w hich exclusively covered
the bass range up to 500H z, that have
been culled, leaving the S5t w ith a p air of
bass/m id units crossing over at 1 .2kH z.
G oing from four 1 8 0m m drivers to
tw o has enabled Perlisten to m ake the
S5t around 20cm shorter, w hich on p ap er
doesn’t seem like m uch but visually m akes
a significant difference. The w idth of 24cm
is the sam e, so it’s not p articularly p ortly,
and dep th rem ains a m ore sizeable 40cm .
Cabinet w eight,for w hat it’s w orth, has
been trim m ed to 43.2kg from 55.7 kg.
The effect of rem oving the tw o
dedicated bass drivers im p acts the
sp ecification [see PM ’s Lab Rep ort, p 6 5]
,
although Perlisten still rates the low frequency extension at a ‘typ ical in-room ’
20H z (w ith the sp eaker op erating in
bass reflex m ode), or 23H z (sealed box).
62
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
DECEMBER 2023
RIG HT :P erlisten ’s‘DPC array’ co m prises a
28 m m beryllium tw eeteran d up p er/lo w er
28 m m T P CD (th in -ply carbo n d iaph rag m )
d o m es.T h etw o custo m 1 8 0m m T P CD
bassd rivers are co n f
ig ured f
o reith er
ven ted o rsealed -bo xalig n m en t
M U LT ICHA N N EL T OO
A id in g the im p ression thatPerlisten arrived as a 8fu lly form ed 9ou tfit,an d n ot
sim p ly a b ou tiq u e b ran d ,is the factthat- from the ou tset- it9s targeted b oth hi-fi
and hom e cin em a en thu siasts,alb eitab ove a certain p rice level.The S5ttested
here is j
u ston e sp eaker in a ran ge thatalso in clu d es cen tre chan n el an d on -w all
su rrou n d op tion s,as d oes the m ore afford ab le (b u tstill p rem iu m ) R series.
M ore recen tly,b oth ran ges have b een j
oin ed b y architectu ral/cu stom in stall
sp eakers. System b u ild ers therefore have in-w all an d in -ceilin g op tion s to either
m atch w ith Perlisten 9s con ven tion al cab in etd esign s in a 8hyb rid 9set-u p ,or to
com p lete a fu lly in visib le system . M od els in the S series ru n from a com p actb u t
still three-w ay S3i-c in -ceilin g u n it,w ith slightly recon figu red D PC [p ictu red ,inset],
to the S7i-LR,w hich is effectively an in-w all iteration of the S7t
flagship [H FN A p r 922]. A d d ition ally,Perlisten has tw o ran ges
of su b w oofers,sp litb etw een the p rem iu m D series m od els
(notS series,for som e reason ) an d step -d ow n R series.
The top -lin e op tion ,the 92kg D 21 5s,featu res tw o
380m m b ass d rivers in a p u sh-p u ll con figu ration ,p lu s a
3kW -rated D SP-d riven am p lifier.
Perhap s the on ly op tion Perlisten 9s lin eu p is now
lackin g is an in-w all su b w oofer to m atch its architectu ral!
m od els. M ayb e that9s com in g n ext...
steel p linth - sup p ort the cabinet offer
easy adjustm ent of levelling, and individual
sp eaker grilles let you choose w hich, if any,
ofthe S5t’s drivers you w ant to cover up .
O nce again this Perlisten sp eaker earns
TH X D om inus certification, m eaning it has
p assed m uster for use in hom e theatre
system s at sizes of up to 1 8 4 cubic m etres.
Sensitivity is quoted at a useful 8 9 .5dB,
but w ith a nom inal im p edance figure of
4ohm you’llw ant to use it w ith the sort of
am p lification its p rice tag and size im p lies.
Even in bass reflex m ode,the S5t doesn’t
deliver the sort of bass op ulence you m ight
idly im agine from a sp eaker of its size and
sp ecification. It favours neutrality over
w arm th,the low -end greeting you w ith a
firm handshake rather than an envelop ing
hug. Som etim es it can even sound a little
dry, albeit in com p lete control, and next to
that there’s so m uch else to savour: a w ide,
high soundstage; excellent detail across
the audio band; transient attack; and m ore.
Above all, p erhap s, it’s sup rem ely revealing.
For exam p le, Rebecca Pidgeon’s ‘Now
Begins’[P arts Of Speech P ieces Of
Sound; self-released 44.1 kH z/1 6 -bit]
enjoyed a w onderful bass sound and
delicate dep iction of its p ercussion,
p lus the floaty, exp ansive soundstage.
It w as slick, m odern and ethereal. But at
the other end ofthe m usical sp ectrum ,
the raw p roduction of ‘Com bination’from
Aerosm ith’s 1 9 7 6 album Rocks [Colum bia
47 49 6 5 2]shone through, even w hile
the p recision ofthe S5t unw rap p ed the
decep tively busy m ixto m ake it sound
fresh and new .
M ultip le guitar p arts
and layered vocals w eaved in and out from
various p arts ofthe stage before Joe Perry
locked into the centre for a fuzz-laden solo.
Equally revealing w as ‘Take It Easy’
by The Eagles [E agles; Rhino Records
1 9 2kH z/24-bit]
.This sounded sw eet and
sm ooth in the m idrange and bass,w ithout
losing any crisp ness to its p ercussion and
leading edges. Backing vocals surged from
behind singer G lenn Frey, and such w as
its resolution that m y focus drifted during
the m ain guitar solo to the banjo p lucking
aw ay quietly in the background, not a
detail I’m alw ays aw are off.
A N GLE GRIN DER
Back to the S5t’s handling of bass and
low -end detail,to w hich I’llsay if it’s on the
record you’ll hear it.Jastin M artin’s ‘M iss
M e Yet’[H ouse Of Fam e; 44.1 kH z/1 6 -bit]
is a fine exam p le of R8 <B/hip -hop in the
2020s, blessed w ith sam p les, synthetic
beats and deep bass notes,the latter given
genuine extension here. Sim ilarly, ‘Stalker’
from drum ’n’bass p roducer Ap hrodite
[V 2 Records W R 1 006 9 52]filled the room
w ith m etallic-edged bass notes that, thanks
to the loudsp eaker’s uniform disp ersion,
ap p eared to attack m e from all angles.
That said,the S5t is m ore confident in
its p ortrayal of finer bass elem ents, doing
so w ith sp eed and grip . The syncop ated
drum intro to The Steve M iller Band’s ‘Take
The M oney And Run’[G reatest H its 197478; M ercury 44.1 kH z/1 6 -bit]w arranted
a few listens to ap p reciate the absolute
control over the kick-drum and snare,G»
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
63
P H O NO
CA R TR ID G E S
LETS JU S T G ET TO
THE P OIN T
NEW
BLU E P OINT No .3
HIG H OU TP U T M OV IN G C OIL C ARTRID G E
Aval
ibl
e in both Hi-ou tpu tand Low -ou tpu tvarients.
HENLEY
■
Distributed by Hen ley Aud io
T:+ 44 (0 )1235 511 166 | E:sal
es@ henl
eyau dio.co.u k
W :w w w .henl
eyau dio.co.u k i n :Henl
eyAu dioU K | O
:Henl
eyAu dio
REPORT
PERLIST EN S5T
LEFT :T h eS5t’sth ree-w ay (1 .2kHz/
4kHz)cro sso veri
sspl
i
tbetw een th e
bass/mid an d DPC array d ri
versen abl
i
ng
bi-ampin g /bi-w irin g i
fth e g o l
d -pl
ated
l
i
n ks(seen h ere)areremo ved .Si
d ean d
rearven tsco mein to pl
ay i
fth eS5ti
s
co n f
i
g ured i
n ref
lexmo d e
m ightnotgive you w hatyou w ant.
As an exam pl
e,the bl
u es bril
l
iance of
TajMahal
's 'Leavin'Tru nk ’ from the
al
bu m ofthe sam e nam e [
C ol
u m bia
I
48 0 968 2]captivated w ith its bl
asts
ofrou gh-edged harm onica,bu tthe
speak er’su nvarnished approach had
m e hank ering for a bitm ore bl
oom
and scal
e to the bassl
ine and dru m s.
BA CK T O BLA CK
w hil
e the fu l
l
ness,tightness and
speed ofthe basstransients on D ire
S traits’ 'Tu nnelOfLove’ [M aki
ng
M ovi
es;V ertigo 8 0 0 0 50 -2]form ed
afirm fou ndation for Mark Knopfl
er's
vocal
s and Fender firew ork s.
8 y being so dynam ic,precise and
fl
eetoffoot,the S 5tbrings afeel
ing
ofdirectness to w hatever you Te
l
istening to. Lal
o S chifrin’ sfu nk y
'M ain Titl
e'to C l
intEastw ood's Dirty
Harry OST [
Al
eph Records]sou nded
im m ediate,al
m ostl
ik e having a l
ive
percu ssionistatthe end ofthe room .
D ol
l
y P arton’srecentstar-stu dded
cover of‘LetItBe'[
B u tterfl
y Records]
did the sam e for the big,rol
l
ing
piano pl
ayed by P au lM cC artney,
w hil
e the du o's vocal
s w ere as
recognisabl
e as ever,dow n to D ol
l
y's
sl
ightl
y pinched pronu nciation.
There w illbe tim es the S 5t’s
m easu red,transparentperform ance
Other tim es thou gh? The S 5tw il
l
bl
ow you aw ay. Joe Bonam assa's
'High W ater Everyw here’ [...Li
ve From
The RoyalAl
b ertHal
l
; P rovogu e P RD
7274-2],w ith its heavy dru m m ing
track spread across a hu ge stage,
w as an eye-opening m om ent. The
tw ang ofthe steelstring acou stic
gu itar had righteou s attack ,the
singer’svocal
s w ere proj
ected
high and far,andthe speakers
disappeared entirel
y from view .
Ofcou rse,this recording
is dem o-w orthy and m ixed to
sou nd gargantu an,bu tP erl
isten’ s
fl
oorstander did itj
u stice. And
Igotthe sam e im pression from
Bl
ack S abbath’ s'S ym ptom OfThe
U niverse'[
S abotage;W arner Records
RR2 28 22], argu abl
y the firstever
'thrash m etal
'track . The S 5tdidn’t
shave an ou nce offthe gr itand
textu re ofTony l
om m i’sserrated
gu itar riff,w hil
e dru m s and bass
crashed arou nd behind. Icou l
d have
been in the Bl
ack C ou ntry in 1975.
P erlisten ’sS5ti
s m o re th an a f
in e
run n ers-up prize f
o rth o se w h o se
listen in g ro o m o rbud g et) can ’t
acco m m o d ate th e larg erS7 t
f
lo o rstan d er,as itg o es abo utits
busin ess i
n m o stly th e sam e w ay.
Im ag in g f
o cus,speed , reso lutio n
an d in strum en tald etailare al
l
o n th e m en u, an d w h ile its bass
o utputisn ’textravag an titstill
h its h ard ,w ith m usicality.T h is i
s
an o th ersuperb speakerf
ro m th e
f
ast-expan d in g U S m arq ue.
SoundQ ual
i
t
y:88%
100
W ith the sam e D P C array asthe S7t[HFN Apr ’22],bu tm arriedto
j
u sta singl
e pair of18 0 m m TP C D bass/m tddrivers,the S5tiscu t
from the sam e sonic cl
oth,al
beitw ith sl
ightl
y redu cedsensitivity
and bass extension,andincreasedm idrange/trebl
e distortion.
Measu redfractional
l
y above the axis ofthe centra* beryl
l
iu m
dom e tw eeter - the l
ik el
y seatedl
istening axis w ith the speakers
tipped back by 2< -the P erl
isten S5t's response [
G raph 1Jisvery
sl
ightl
y dishedbu tactu al
l
y m ore u niform than thatofthe S7t
w ith tighter ±1,9dB and±1,7dB errors,respectivel
y,asitbu il
ds
back to a sl
ightpeak at10 k Hz .The response dipsj
u stprior to
the fam il
iar 24k Hz dom e resonance [
pink shadedarea. G raph 1,
and C SD w aterfal
l
. G raph 2]. P air m atching i
sa 'l
ooser'1.2dB
(20 0 Hz -20 k Hz )andw hil
e no gril
l
es w ere su ppl
ied,w e've
m easu red a benign,circa ±0 .5dB variation in m id/presence
bandou tpu tw ith previou s P erl
isten speakers.S ensitivity i
svery
dose to P erFisten'scl
aim ed 8 9.5dB al8 9.3dB /1k Hz and 8 8 .8 dB
(50 0 Hz -8 k Hz )here,bu tthis i
s " 2dB l
ow er than the S 7tand
partial
l
y expl
ainsthe S5t'$ higher 0 .6-1% THD at90 dB SP L/1m .
The {diffraction-corrected)bass rol
l
s aw ay a l
ittl
e earl
ier than
m ightbe expectedat60 Hz (-6dB re. 20 0 Hz ),a produ ctofthe
18 0 m m drivers'60 -50 0 H;range (-6dB)andm u ted 27Hz port/
sl
ottu ning,bu tbou ndary reinforcem entw il
lim prove this figu re
in practice. N everthel
ess,the generou s sensitivity andcl
ean bass
com es atthe expense ofa m odestl
y dem anding l
oad- a dip to
2.8 9ohm /155Hz and3.0 ohm /15.9k Hz w ith m axim u m sw ings in
phase angl
e of+ 59720 k Hz and-50 78 0 Hz l
eadto dips tn EP D R
of1.25ohm /10 5Hz anda l
ess concerning 1.0 6ohrp/23k Hz . P M
ABOVE:Respo n se in clud in g n earf
ield summed d river/
po rt[g reen ],f
reef
ield co rrected to Im at2.83V
[yello w ],ultraso n ic [pin k].Lef
t, bl
ack;rig h t, red
Od B
■8
■ii
24
200
500
Ik
2k
5k
]0k
Freq uen cy In H zrt
20k
4.0 in set
60kH(
ABOVE:T h ere are min o rmo d es f
ro m 500Hz-3kHz an d
1 0kHz butth e S5ti
sg en erally w elld am ped an d '
clean '
-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
Sen sitivity (S P L/1m f2.8 3V - Ik H^M ean'IEC )
8 9.3dB /8 8 .8 dB /8 7.2dB
Im p ed an ce m o d ulus:m in im um
8 l m axi
m um (20 H£-20 k H2)
2.8 9u hiTi@ 155Hz
22.5ohm @ 53Hz
Im p ed an ce ph ase:m in im um
8 l m axi
m um (20 H£-20 k H2)
-59° @ 70 Hz
+ 5 0 °@ 998 Hz
P airm atch in g f
K esp .erro r(20 0 Hz -20 k Hz )
1.2dB f±1.9dB f±L7dB
Lf
f
HFexten sio n (-6d6 ief20 0 H2/IO k H^J
60 Hz / 30 .8 k H2/33.2k Hz
T HD T OOHifIkH /flOkHi(for 90 dB S P Lj
l
m )
0 .0 9% f 0 .6% f1.2%
Dim en sio n s [
HW D jfW eig h t(each)
1119x240 x40 0 m m / 43kg
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h iti
n ews.co .
uk 65
PHONO PREAM PLIFIER
Made by: MoFi Electronics, Chicago, USA
Supplied by: Karma-AV Ltd, York
Telephone: 01423 35 88 4 6
Web: w w w .m ofielect ronics.com ;w w w .karma-av.co.uk
Price: £5999
M oFiM asterP hone
When vinyl king, MoFi, finally made the move into hardware it sought out designers of
proven pedigree - the MasterPhono is scripted by none other than Peter Madnick
Review: Adam Smith Lab: Paul Miller
oFi Electronics has gone from
the rear p anel and sockets in order to
strength to strength in the
m inim ise signal p ath length. As for the
last few years, help ed by the
FET-based front-end,this is housed inside
roster of designers drafted
a further cop p er box for both shielding
and tem
in to create its p roducts. Sp iral G roove’
s p erature control. Finally, all
Allen Perkins w orked on its U ltraG ol
C cation w ithin the M asterPhono is
amd pMlifi
discrete and RIAA equalisation is p assive
cartridge [HFN Jan ’22]and M asterDeck
[see PM ’s Lab Rep ort, p 6 9 ]
.
turntable, w hile ex-TAD/ELAC Andrew
The M asterPhono offers three inp uts,
Jones is resp onsible for its SourcePoint
loudsp eakers [HFN Ap r &Aug ’23]
. Now
selected on the front p anel. O p tions 2
com es the £59 9 9 M asterPhono, a flagship
and 3 are conventional ‘voltage’inp uts
on balanced XLRs and unbalanced RCAs,
p hono stage from the p en of Peter
M adnick, a designer best know n for the
resp ectively. G ain op tions of 40, 50, 6 0
and 7 0dB and loading op tions of 1 5, 30,
iconic Audio Alchem y brand and his w ork
as p art ofthe Constellation Audio team
50, 7 5, 1 00, 500, 1 k, 1 0k or 47 kohm
[see boxout, p 6 7 ]
.
are ap p lied to both these inp uts, but
This p hono stage, the result of a tw othere is no defined ‘M M ’or ‘M C’setting
year p roject, is effectively a tw in-chassis
as such.There is also an ‘O PT’setting on
p roduct held betw een shared w ooden
the load controlthat sw itches in a p air
sleeves that hold the p ow er sup p ly and
of rear-p anel sockets to w hich can be
fitted your ow n choice of loading resistor.
am p lification circuitry ap art. M oFiw anted
a single unit that w ould allow easy use in
a studio environm ent if required,w hile
M adnick w as set on an outboard PSU,
so the result is the ‘best of both w orlds’
solution p ictured here.
M
IN N ER T U BES
Look into the M asterPhono w ith the lid
rem oved [see p ic, right]
, and it’s clear
that it com p rises tw o sections, sep arated
by three cop p er-p lated tubes.The front
section (top of im age) contains the unit’s
PSU, p lus the m icrop rocessor-based
control circuitry behind the front p anel,
and connections betw een the relevant
sections are carried through those cop p er
tubes.The one on the right takes the inp ut
AC from the rear p anel,the centre carries
control signals betw een the front p anel
and the m ain circuits, and the left the D C
sup p ly from front to rear.
M eanw hile, at the back ofthe unit,
the am p lification circuitry is close to
RIG H T: The tw o chassisenclosu re,
w ithPSU
and logic [top ]sep arated from cu rrent/voltage
m od e inp u ts,p assive RIAA and b alanced ou tp u ts
[b ottom ],inclu d es 8com m u nication9via three
cop p er-colou red tu b es.Inp u tsare screened
u nd era m etalcan thatcarriesa b asic schem atic
66
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
D ECEM BER 2023
There’s no cap acitance adjustm ent for
M M cartridges - this is fixed at 1 50p F although cap acitors can also be fitted to
the rear-p anel loading sockets if desired.
Both m ono op eration and a subsonic filter
are also available.
SET U P SA VIOU R
Settings ap p lied to each inp ut are
‘rem em bered’and recalled each tim e
that inp ut is selected. This ease-of-use
is bolstered by the inclusion of a lovely,
chunky rem ote control handset [p 6 9 ]that
w ill op erate the M asterPhono’s functions
from the com fort ofyour chair, and m akes
cartridge loading com p arisons a doddle.All
sw itching is via relays, so there is a slight
delay w hen changing settings, but this
also m eans that adjustm ents can be m ade
‘on the fly’w ith m inim alfear ofthum p s
through the loudsp eakers.
Inp ut num ber 1 is w here things get
interesting. This is a transim p edance or
‘current’inp ut, designed for cartridges w ith
a very low ,typ ically <1 0ohm , generator
im p edance. Low coil-count, low -im p edance
cartridges w illtyp ically deliver sufficient
current in resp onse to the near-shorted
inp ut of the M asterPhono’s l-to-V stage.
The four gain settings are still available,
but the load sw itch LEDs are
extinguished w hen the fixedim p edance Inp ut 1 is in use.
The front-p anelV U
m eters,w hich are bathed in
orange light, not only look
sup erb but can also aid in
cartridge setup - Iuse T he
U ltim ate A nalog T est LP from
Analogue Productions [AAPT1 ]
.The test
m ode is instigated by a long p ress on the
M asterPhono’s ‘M eter’button (w hich is
otherw ise used to sw itch the V U m eters
on or off). Setup is in three distinct step s.
The first allow s you to choose a reference
levelw hile the second tackles cartridge
azim uth adjustm ent w hile p laying a track
w ith its tw o channels out of p hase - the
low er the m eter reading,the better.The
third step uses a 1 0kH z test track to check
up p er frequency outp ut level as a guide to
op tim al load setting. Ifyou don’t hap p en
to have any test gear to hand,this can
rem ove a lot ofthe guessw ork!
Fit and finish ofthe full-w idth but slim
M asterPhono is excellent and the w ooden
end cheeks are available
in W alnut or Black.Tw o
earth term inals are fitted
to the rear p anel- one
connected to signal ground
and one to chassis ground,
and they therefore sit at
slightly different electrical
p otentials. O w ners can
exp erim ent to achieve the low est hum and
noise in their ow n system s.
‘M yroom was
filledwiththe
majestyofthe
A lbertH all'
(P OPEN W ORLD
W ith the M asterPhono connected to m y
regular Yam aha C-5000 p ream p [HFN Aug
’20]
, Ifed it from both a M ichell Gyro SE/
SM E 309 /O rtofon 2M Black M M into its
M A DN ICK ’S M ISSION
A w ell-kn ow n n am e in the au d io in d u stry,Peter M ad n ick9s career n ow sp an s
over 4 0 years,b egin n in g in retail w here he started w orkin g in the stockroom
of a local hi-fi store,aged 1 5,b efore 8grad u atin g9to the sales team a year later.
Follow in g college,M ad n ick an d tw o colleagu es estab lished a n ew hi-fi store in
M assachu setts in 1 977,w hich rem ain s in b u sin ess tod ay.
In 1 979,M ad n ick j
oin ed Fran cis G D en n esen atD en n esen Electron ics,also
in M assachu setts,w here he d evelop ed the fam ou s G eom etric Sou n d tracktor
cartrid ge align m en ttool,b u the w as on the m ove again six years later to
Californ ia w here he w orked for a p eriod as a con su ltan t,b efore co-fou n d in g
A u d io A lchem y in 1 989. AA p rod u ced a w id e ran ge of au d iop hile D ACs,j
itter
su p p ressors,head p hon e am p s,p ream p s,p ow er am p s an d p hon o stages,an d w as
on e of the firstb ran d s to m ake w id esp read u se of the PS d igital in terface.
The origin al in carn ation of A u d io A lchem y lasted u n til the late 1 990s an d ,
after a sp ell d esign in g vid eo p roj
ectors for Ru n co,M ad n ick w as d raw n b ack to
au d io as head of Con stellation A u d io9s en gin eerin g team . A u d io A lchem y rose
from the ashes in 201 3 b efore b ein g b rou ghtb y ELA C in 201 6 - M ad n ick still
d esign s electron ics for ELAC,an d con su lts for other b ran d s. H e j
oin ed M oFi
Electron ics in 2020 as sen ior electron ics en gin eer,an d the M asterPhon o is the
firstfru itof this ap p oin tm en t.
ABO VE: Trad itional8VU 9m eterscan b e u sed
to op tim ise azim u th/channelb alance and are
b athed in the sam e w arm orange glow asthe
LEDsthatind icating load ing,gain,inp u t,
etc
unbalanced p hono inp ut, and the new
M usical Fidelity M 8 xTT [see p 48 ]
, w ith
Clearaudio M C Essence p ick-up [HFN Aug
’1 7 ]
, into its balanced XLR inp ut.The M F
deck w as agnostic in term s of earthing but
the M ichell/SM E system w as quieter w ith
the deck earthed to the chassis ground
term inal and the arm to the signal ground.
W ith either turntable, it w as ap p arent
the M asterPhono is m ostly transp arent,
your front-end determ ining the levels of
detail heard.That said, a subtle frisson of
m idband w arm th gives vocals and acoustic
instrum ents an ap p ealing richness.That’s
not to say this p hono stage is allw arm and
fluffy, as it’s not. Rather, it has an op en,
detailed and sw eet nature that sp arkles by
just the right am ount at the right tim e.
The treble is fairly even-handed, offering
a p leasing crisp ness but w ith a highly
alluring level of sop histication. O bviously,
this dep ends on op tim ising the loading
and gain for your chosen M M /M C but the
rem ote is a boon for dialling-in the ideal
settings w hile you stay seated. Neither
does this p hono stage favour M M over
M C typ es, or vice-versa, so it w ill give fine
results ifyou are running m ultip le decks, or
arm s, equip p ed w ith a range of p ick-up s.
F RU IT PU N CH
The p ercussion effects on The Kane
G ang’s ‘M otortow n’[M iracle; Kitchenw are
Records KW LP7 ]w ere clean and snap p y,
but not lacking in body.This is an old
1 9 8 0s p ressing w hose transient detail
often sounds slightly blurred, but the
M asterPhono endow ed it w ith an alm ost
digital sense of clarity - in a good w ay.
At the other end of the frequency
range,the bass seem ed equally crisp
and focused. W hether acoustic, electric
or synth-based, basslines w ere delivered
w ith real confidence. The solid low s of O
I
D ECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
67
CONNECTED
Hig h -perf
o rm an ce pro d ucts
f
o rmusic lo vers
M u lti-aw ar d-w inning and com prehensive ranges of
digitaland anal
ogu e connections,high-perform ance
pow er,speak er and HD M Icabl
es,m ains distribu tion
bl
ock s,netw or k sw itches,noise r edu ction devices,
instal
l
ation and instru m entcabl
es.
C abl
es featu re ou r u niq u e C hor d C om pany ARAY
condu ctor geom etry and enhanced shiel
ding
system s,the l
atestTayl
on® and X LP E insu l
ation and
are avail
abl
e fitted w ith a w ide range ofC horAl
l
oy™
pl
ated connectors. C u stom l
engths and ter m inations
m ade to order.
P rou dl
y designed/bu il
tin Engl
and since 198 5 by a
dedicated team ofm u sic,cinem a and gam e l
overs.
U sed and recom m ended w or ldw ide by a hostof
professional
s,incl
u ding r ecor d produ cers,stu dio
engineers,m u sicians and fellow hi-fim anu factu rers.
Ask you r nearestC hor d C om pany r etailer for a
dem onstration.
w w w .chord.co.u k
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CHO RD
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LA B
REPORT
M OF IM A ST ERPHON O
AB OV E:The M asterP hono incl
u destraditional‘vol
tage’ inpu ts andl
ow im pedance
'cu rrent* inpu tsfor,typical
l
y,low ou tpu tMC s. B oth are avail
abl
e on RC AsandXLRs
thou gh the tatter are onl
y tru ly bal
ancedw ith MC s.Ou tpu ts are al
so on RC As/X LRs
Let’sEatG r andm a’ s'S u nday’ [
Tw o
Ri
b b ons; Transgressive Records
TRAN S 565X D ]sou nded fru ity and
fu lsom e,w ith a w ell-j
u dged balance
betw een w eight and tu nefu lness.
The M asterP hono al
so teased ou t
percu ssive and contrasting am bient
detailfrom the recesses ofthe
sou ndstage. Itseem ed to w antto
letm e to k now they existed,j
u stin
case Ihadn’t noticed.
BREA T H T EST
It’sthe m idband thatis the real
star ofthe show ,how ever. The
M asterP hono's lifelik e r evelation
oftextu r es m ak es iteasy to
concentrate on the w ay sou nds
are being for m ed,as w ellas the
sou nds them selves. Its per ceived
dynam ic r ange is al
so im pressive,so
the intak e ofbr eath from a cl
osem ic’d singer is as vivid as the m anic
pou nding ofa k itfrom an overenthu siastic heavy m etaldr u m m er .
Kasey M u sgraves and her sol
o piano
accom panim enton ‘Rainbow ’ from
the Golden H ourLP [
M C A Records
B 0 0 27 9 21-0 1 ]w as su blim ely
r ender ed,and b oth w er e l
ock ed
sol
idl
y betw een the speak ers.
Then ther e’sthe deep, w ide
and w ell-or der ed sou ndstaging.
'B r oadcasting Hou se’ from
P u bl
ic S ervice
B r oadcasting’s
Thi
s N ew Noi
se
l
ive LP [
Test
C ard Recordings
TC RV A0 5]starts
gently w ith piano,
bass and dru m s
nextto the u su al
LEFT: Rem ote
fu nctionsfor phono
pream ps are rare,bu t
MoFioffers arm chair
accessfor inpu t,gain,
l
oading,su bsonicfil
ter,
m ono/stereo,m u te
and displ
ay brightness
array ofspeech sam pl
es the band
is k now n for. How ever,tow ar ds
the cl
ose w hen the B B C S ym phony
O rchestra com es in,m y listening
r oom w as seem ingly filled w ith the
atm ospher e and m aj
esty ofthe
RoyalAlb er tHal
l
. Even the r ou nd of
appl
au se atthe end appear ed to be
com ing from al
lar ou nd the r oom .
Althou gh m y C lear au dio MC
Essence's 1lohm sou rce im pedance
is above that r ecom m ended for
the phono stage’ s cu r r entinpu t(a
1-2ohm low -ou tpu tM C w ou ld be
ideal
), Iw as stillintrigu ed to tr y
it. The resu l
ts w er e instru ctive,for
w hile the sou nd gained extra pu nch
and pace,and the stereo im age
spread even fu r ther than via the
voltage inpu t,ther e w as stilla slight
l
oss oftreb le clar ity and b itm or e
stridency across the u pper m idband.
C l
earl
y,the M C Essence is not
ideal
ly su ited to dr ive this nearshor ted ’cu r r ent’ inpu t, b u titfelt as
ifthe M asterP hono w as stillpu lling
m or e from the car tridge. So ifyou
have an M C w ith the r ecom m ended
im pedance ofj
u sta few ohm s,the
cu r r entinpu tw ou ld be the one to
try first. For 98 % ofother M C s,the
M asterP hono sim pl
y sings via its
traditionalvoltage inpu ts!O
Thank s to its var iou s b alanced/
SE inpu ts and ou tpu ts, excellent
r ange ofadj
u stm ents and som e
novelnew featu r es,M oFi’ssm ar tlook ing M aster P hono is a pleasu r e
to u se. M or e im por tantly it’s a
su per lative per for m er ,able to
deliver allthe detail,pu nch and
m u sicalem otion ofyou r vinyl
collection. The £6 k dem anded
isn’t exactly pock etchange,b u t
ifyou have the b u dget,then an
au dition is m andator y.
Sound
07%
■■■■■■■■■ t
o
o
Testedvia its bal
anced'vol
tage1inpu ts,and partnering bal
anced
ou tpu ts,the MasterP hono's notional+ 40 dB ,+ 50 dB . + 60 dB and
+ 70 dB gain settings are,in practice. + 44.3dB . + 54.2dB . + 64.0 dB
arid+ 73.9dB ,respectivel
y. This,andthe 15ohm -47k ohm inpu t
l
oad range (cu stom val
u es m ay al
so be appl
ied) endow sthis
phono stage w ith the capacity to accom m odate a very w ide
range ofpick-u psfrom high ou tpu tMMs w ith asensitivity of
6.1 m V to l
ow ou tpu tMC s offering j
u st20 0 pV (al
l1k Hz /5cm /
sec). How ever,w hil
e the passive RI
AA eq i
svery accu rate [
see
bel
ow ]itdoes soak u p a l
otofheadroom ,l
im iting the respective
inpu toverl
oadm argins to 66m V . 22m V ,6.8 m V and 2.0 8 m V .
Sow hil
e the + 40 dB and+ 60 dB gain settings offer a good
+ 22.5dB headroom w ith 5m V MMs/50 0 pV MC s. respectivel
y,the
+ 50 dB i+ 70 dB settings are l
im itedto j
u st12.5dB w hich i
sreal
l
y
onl
y su itabl
e for l
ow ou tpu tMMs andMC s.
Noise i
sal
ittl
el
ow er th an average,sothe MasterP hono
achieves an A-w td S/N of8 8 .5dB w ith the + 40 /50 dB settings
treatedas MM. and78 .2dB w ith the + 60 /70 dB options as MC .
B oth these figu res fal
lw el
linside the lim itim posed by ru m bl
e/
vinylnoise from the besttu rntabl
e sol
u tions as does its l
ow
distortion - an im pressive 0 .0 0 1-0 .0 35% [
20 Hz -20 k Hz . re. OdBV;
G raph 2]being 50 0 -1 OOOx tow erthan thatm easu redfrom the
bestMM/MC s review ed in Hr-FiNew s. MoFispecifies its bal
anced
XLR ou tpu tat10 V w hich i
s precisel
y m etin practice [
re. ikHz f
<1% THD J as i
s the rem ark abl
e am pl
itu de fl
atness ofthe RI
AAcorrected response - tru e to ±0 .0 2dB from 20 Hz -20 k Hz ,rising
im perceptibl
y to + 0 .2dB /1 OQ kHz [
see G raph 1. bel
ow ].The bu il
tin bass rol
l
-offam ou nts to -3dB /3Hz . increasing to-3dB /11Hz
w ith the su bsonicfil
ter engaged [
dashed trace. G raph 1].P M
ABOVE: RIAA<orrected freq u ency response from 5Hz 10 0 k Hz (su bsonic filter , dashedtrace; bal
anced i/o)
ABOVE: D istor tion versu s freq u ency re. OdBV from
20 Hz -20 k Hz (M M + 40 dB gain setting,bal
anced o/p)
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
In p utlo ad in g (M M /M C )
47 ku -l
nri/1SOpF ; 15ohm -47k u hnl
In p utsen sitivity (
ie. OdBV)
6.1m V /1.95m V / 635pV f20 1pV
In p uto verlo ad (re. 1%
66m V /22m V /b.S niV '2.0 8 m V
HD )
M ax.o utp ut(re
Im p.
10 .1V /54ohm (bal
anced)
A-w td Sf
N ratio (re. OdBV)
8 8 .5dB f78 .2dE (M M /M C )
Freq . resp.(20 Hz -20 k H2'10 0 k Hz )
-0 .0 2dB to+ 0 .0 1dB f+ 0 .17dB
Disto rtio n (20 Hz -20 k l
-L, l
e.OdB V )
0 .0 0 1-0 .0 35%
P o w erco n sum ptio n
22W
Dim en sio n s j
W HD );W eig h t
432x8 9x40 0 m in f6..8 ki|
D EC EMBER 20 23
w w w .hifinew s.co.u k
69
Made by: B&W Group Ltd, West Sussex
Supplied by: B&W Group Ltd
Telephone: 0 8 0 0 2321513
Web: w w w .bow ers-w ilkins.co.uk
Price: £1999
LOUDSPEAKER
B&W 603 S3
Series 3 sees the eighth generation of B&W’s evergreen
600 series, headed here by the 603 S3 floorstander
Review: Jamie Biesemans Lab: Paul Miller
ow ers &W ilkins m ight be one
ofthe largest loudsp eaker
m anufacturers around, but
surp risingly it doesn’t have a very
broad offering, fielding considerably few er
m odels than, say, KEF or Focal. Leaving
Cl p roducts aside (and the iconic but
no longer revolutionary Nautilus),there
are only three m ain loudsp eaker fam ilies
com ing out ofW orthing, and as the 8 00
D 4 series [HFN Nov ’21 , Feb ’22, M ay &
Sep ’23]and 7 00 S3 series [HFN M ar ’23]
rep resent the m ost recent m ajor up dates,
it w as inevitable that the nearly 30-year-old
6 00 series w ould follow suit.
The current refresh also brings the
6 00 series to S3 status, but is in fact the
seventh or eighth generation, dep ending
on w hether you consider the 6 03 S2
Anniversary Edition [HFN
Jan ’21 ]to be a full-blow n
up date.The new range
is allabout hitting a
com p etitive p rice p oint
by taking a trickledow n
ap p roach, yet it quickly
becom es clear the 6 03
S3 closes the gap w ith its
m ore exp ensive brethren, and this is also
true w hen it com es to the p rice tag - the
range-top p ing 6 03 S3 floorstander tested
here, at £1 9 9 9 , is about £500 m ore than
its p redecessor. Inflationary p ressures
have inevitably p layed a p art here, but it
includes an outlay for new technology too.
w hite baffle and a seam lessly ap p lied oak
veneer to the cabinet’s top and sides, really
looks the p art. Even considering the higher
p rice tag,the 6 03 S3 has a build quality
and style that’s a cut above the norm .
A LL HA IL T IT A N IU M
As said earlier,there’s a lot oftrickledow n
technology at w ork here.The 6 03
S3’s 1 50m m FST m idrange driver,w ith
p rop rietary Continuum cone m aterial,
is a fam iliar sight, but benefits from
an up graded m otor assem bly derived
from the 7 00 S3 series. Im p roved m otor
system s also drive the sp eaker’s tw o
1 6 5m m w oofers, and these are vented by
a new rear-firing bass p ort of ‘7 00 series
sp ecification’.B&W says this also aids in
stiffening the 6 03 S3’s enclosure, as does
the new term inal tray, in
addition to refinem ents
in cabinet bracing. The
crossover netw ork has
been given a 7 00 S3
flavour too, in the form of
higher-quality cap acitors.
The m ost significant
- and p resum ably m ost
exp ensive - up grade for this generation
is to be found in the tw eeter [see PM ’s
boxout, p 7 1 ]
. D iam ond or carbon dom es,
as used higher up B&W ’s range, are not
tenable in this p rice category, so instead
the m anufacturer has develop ed a new
titanium dom e tw eeter. A tw o-p art design,
this features a 25p m -thick m ain dom e
fram ed by a m arginally chunkier (30p m )
titanium ring, and fires through a new
m esh grille derived from the 8 00 D 4 series’
tw eeter assem bly. For this generation,the
p ositioning ofthe tw eeter is also closer
to the m idrange below (their trim rings
‘overlap ’) to im p rove driver integration.
The titanium dom e is m ounted into
an elongated tube that’s hidden inside
'Thefret-sizzling
guitarsolowas
an homageto
’80 sBri
tmetal’
A CU T A BOVE
There are no changes to the structure of
the lineup , so the new 6 00 series rem ains
a stream lined fam ily of sp eakers.The 6 03
S3 is the single floorstander on offer, w hile
below it are the £7 49 6 06 S3 and £59 9
6 07 S3 standm ount/bookshelf m odels (for
w hich a new FS-6 00 S3 stand is available).
A hom e theatre-sp ecific centre sp eaker,the
£6 49 H TM 6 S3, com p letes the collection.
Three distinct colourw ays should give
you enough op tions for m atching the 6 03
S3 w ith your listening room . M att black and
satin w hite finishes are nicely done, but the
oak edition (p ictured here), w hich sp orts a
70
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
DECEMBER 2023
RIG HT :T h e S3versio n o fth e 603 f
eatures
a n ew 25m m allo y/titan ium d o m e tw eeter,
th e f
am iliar1 50m m FST m id ran g e d riverw ith
Co n tin uum co n e,plustw o 1 65m m paper-co n ed
bassd riversw ith 7 00 series-in spired m o to rs
BILEA K U P BLU ES
I
B 110
W hile softd om e tw eeters are still
p op u lar in som e q u arters [H FN N ov
923] m ostlou d sp eaker en gin eers
are typ ically w orkin g w ith very light
an d stiff treb le d rivers in an effort
to exten d the u ltrason ic resp on se of
their d esign s. A fter all,w hy u se *hi-res*
96kH z/D SD 1 28 m ed ia if the sp eaker9s
resp on se d ip s ab ove 20kH z? B& W
certain ly p u shes atthe b ou n d aries
of resp on se [see Lab Rep ort,p 73] w ith its cu stom tw eeter d iap hragm s.
N evertheless these 8lightan d stiff9d om es u su ally have a p ron ou n ced p rim ary
b reaku p m od e - n otthe case w ith m ostself-d am p in g softd om es - thatm u st
b e d eferred to as high an u ltrason ic freq u en cy as p ossib le [see in setG rap h].
The choice of m aterials im p acts d irectly on the achievab le p erform an ce,
so the costly 8D iam on d 9d om e em p loyed in the 801 D 4 [H FN N ov 921 ] has a
w ell-su p p ressed d ou b le reson an ce at4 6kH z an d 69kH z [b lack trace],w hile
the 25m m d ecou p led 8Carb on 9d om e u sed in the 703 S3 [H FN M ar 923] b reaks
u p ata slightly low er (b u tstillvery high) 4 9kH z,alb eitatan am p litu d e som e
+1 2d B ab ove the sp eaker9s m ean ou tp u t[b lu e trace]. W ith less b u d getto p lay
w ith in the 603 S3,b u tw ith a titan iu m rin g stren g then in g the 25p m -thick
d om e,B& W 9s en gin eers have still achieved a high 35kH z p rim ary reson an ce
even ifthis is n ow a vigorou s +i5 d B ab ove the m id b an d level [red trace]. PM
the cabinet. The p rincip le behind this
design is nothing new for B&W - albeit
m ore ap p arent w ith its ‘Tw eeter-on-Top ’
m odels - and is intended to p rogressively
attenuate the rear outp ut of the tw eeter,
m inim ising rear reflections w hile also
isolating the driver from p ressure
variations w ithin the m ain cabinet.
e ye s w id e ope n
Rated by B&W at 9 0dB sensitivity - and
m easuring close to that figure [see PM ’s
Lab Rep ort, p 7 3]- the 6 03 S3 looks, on
p ap er,to offer slightly higher outp ut w ith
low er-p ow ered am p s than the S2 m odel.
D uring testing Ihooked up the sp eakers
to D enon’s dim inutive CEO L RCD -N1 2
system and had them effortlessly
blasting out the p ercussion in the 3rd
m ovem ent of W ranitzky’s Sym p hony
in C M inor [D eutsche H arm onia M undi
1 9 6 58 7 02252; 9 6 kH z/24-bit]
. Even
in this set-up ,the 6 03 S3s p erform ed
very cap ably indeed, p resenting a nicely
defined and w ide-op en soundstage. It
w as bit of an eye-op ener.
That said, care still needs to be taken
w ith am p lification as the 6 03 S3
offers a m ore critical listen than first
ap p ears.The com bination ofthese
floorstanders w ith a Bluesound
Pow erNode Edge p ushed this w ireless
stream ing am p out of its com fort zone,
for exam p le - the unit is im p ressive in the
right setting but m arrying it w ith the 6 03
S3s didn’t have the desired outcom e.
H ere the sam e album w as delivered w ith
noticeable glare and harshness.
This allconfirm s that w hile the 6 03
S3 is B&W ’s entry-level, it’s not a ‘budget’
sp eaker, and p airing it w ith Prim are’s Class
D II5 integrated am p lifier [HFN O ct ’1 8 ]
suited it a lot better. Playing the recent
Stone album from heavy m etal band
Baroness [Abraxan H ym ns ABXN008 -1 ]
,
via an O rtofon 2M Bronze-equip p ed ELAC
M iracord 9 0 [HFN Jul ’1 7 ]through a
Prim are R1 5 p hono stage, delivered a
substantial and very rew arding rendition
ofthe track ‘Choir’.D istorted guitars
p ossessed just the right am ount of crunch
and drive, m aking for a thrilling listen, and
this w as the case too w ith the m ore m anic
‘Last W ord’,w here the fam iliar Continuum
m idrange and new titanium dom e tw eeter
p resented a tightly controlled sound w ith
no sign of m uddiness or energy loss.
SPA T IA L A W A REN ESS
H alfw ay through the latter track there’s a
fret-sizzling guitar solo w hich sounds like
an hom age to 1 9 8 0s British m etal, albeit
recorded in a sm all studio room .The shift
in p resentation highlighted the 6 03 S3’s
ability to com m unicate those sp atial cues
higher up the frequency band - even w ith
dense rock like this, let alone orchestral
p ieces like the W ranitzky sym p hony.
The Baroness album is the kind I
p robably w ouldn’t have p referred to p lay
on any earlier generation ofthe 6 03, but
now there’s a slight softening to the treble G*
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
71
"In real-w orld perform ance term s, a honking great big step f orw ard in sound...IsoT ek's
V5 Sigm as w illim prove the perform ance of a good m edium -sized or larger audio sy stem "
V5 SIG M AS
Del
i
ver
i
ngsi
gni
f
i
canti
mpr
ovement
son i
t
sEVO3ser
i
espr
edecessor
,t
heV5 Sig m as
powercondi
t
i
onerboast
sseven i
ndependentpowercl
eani
ngci
r
cui
t
scat
er
i
ngf
or
hi
ghcur
r
entampl
i
f
i
er
saswel
lassour
cecomponent
s.
D istribu ted in the U K and Irel
and by SCV Distributio n
0 3301 222 50 0 | w w w .scvdistribu tion.co.u k
SCV)
REPORT
B& W 6 03 S3
LEFT :U pg rad ed d ual4mm cabl
e
termin als-d erived f
ro m th e7 00 seriesarespl
i
tto f
aci
l
i
tatebi
-ampi
n g an d /o r
bi
-wi
ri
n g .Lo w-turbul
en ce‘Fl
o w po rt’
ref
l
expo rtf
i
tsf
l
ush i
n to th ecabi
n et
extrem el
y im pressive.The 60 3S3
proved abl
e to envel
op the l
istening
position andcreate afeel
ing of
depth thatw as su itedto this new
al
bu m ,w hich portrays the Bel
gianborn artist's retu rn to her ancestral
hom el
and in northern Ital
y.The first
partofthe al
bu m offers intensel
y
m el
anchol
ic com positions verging
on sou ndscapes,w ith 'W e Never
KneelTo P ray’ a beau tifu lhighl
ight
featu ring a sl
ow piano rem iniscent
ofOl
afu r Arnal
ds andother Icel
andic
com posers. Itw as al
lthere:the
breathl
ess singing offin the
distance,the sl
ighthesitation w hen
piano keys are pressed,a sparse
fl
u te hardl
y daring to intru de on the
w hol
e. Rem arkabl
y for a speaker in
this price cl
ass,the 60 3S3m anaged
to expose incredibl
e detailandthe
sm al
l
estnu ances.
The stu nning standardoffinish debu ted in the S2 Anniversary
[HFN Jan '21 ]i
scontinu ed in the 60 3S3pictu red in these pages,
al
ongside a boostto both the l
ou dspeak er's sensitivity-u p
from 8 8 .6dB to 8 9.7dBJ1 kHz /1m cou rtesy of70 0 series m otor
assem bl
ies- andthe controlover its forw ard response [
see
G raph 1,bel
ow ]. The S2Anniversary's 1.5k Hz -3.5k Hz trou gh
and notch at6k Hz are now traded for an essential
l
y fl
atbu t
u ndu l
ating trendw ith redu ced±3.8 dB and±3.9dB response
errors thatbears m ore than passing resem bl
ance to thatseen
from the 8 0 3D 4 [HFN May '23]and70 3S3[HFN Mar '23]. P air
m atching i
sa spectacu iarO.45dB (20 0 Hz -20 k Hz ) w hil
e the gril
l
e
exerts l
ittl
e change to the trend [
bl
u e trace. G raph 1].
The new titaniu m dom e tw eeter has an al
m ostidentical
+ 15dB /35k Hz prim ary resonance [
pink shadedarea. G raph
1,andC SD w aterfal
l
. G raph 2]asthe al
l
oy 'dou bl
e dom e’
ofthe S2 m odel
s[
see boxou t,p71 ]bu tw ith a-6dB dip at
20 k Hz and u l
tim ate extension of48 k Hz (-6dB re. 10 kHz ).
D istortion isa l
ittl
e higher here too (0 .35% vs.0 .1% )bu tthe
C ontinu u m cone m idrange offers a far l
ow er0 .0 4% (al
l90 dB
S P L/l
m ). D istortion isal
so a l
ow 0 .4% th rou gh the bassw here
the tw o 165m m pu l
p drivers w ork over a 57Hz -250 Hz (-6dB)
bandw idth,su ppl
em ented by the rear-facing portata ‘peak y1
22Hz to del
iver a diffract!on-corrected extension of40 Hz [
green
shaded area,G raph 1].Once again,how ever,the am pl
ifier l
oad
i
sfairl
y tou gh - a m inim u m of2.8 5ohm /113Hz cou pl
edw ith
l
rel
ativel
yl
arge sw ings in im pedance phase from -72'-ii
64Hz to
lresu l
ting in a l
ow EP D R of1.0 7ohm /8 8 Hz . P M
+ 50 °/1.3k Hz ,al
IM M ERSED IN M U SIC
Indeed,I'dsu ggestIthas a su rprising
sense ofdefinition. W ith the sam e
C D ,heardthrou gh B& W 's8 0 5 D 4
S ignatu re [
fu l
lreview in HFN Jan
'24],there w as a profou nd sense
ofbeing im m ersedin these sonic
l
andscapes. W hatabou tthe far m ore
affordabl
e 60 3S3
? Itserves u p a l
ot
ofthe sam e experience.Okay,those
fl
agship standm ou nts excelin m any
dom ains - there's no beating better
technol
ogy - bu tthere's al
so no
denying these u pdated entry-l
evel
speakers bring m u ch ofthe bestof
Bow ers & W il
kinsto the tabl
e.(
!
)
w hich m akes these Bow ers & W il
kins
speakers decidedl
y m ore 'm etal
friendl
y'. There's a neat{or annoying,
depending on you r pointofview )
trick to this disc asw el
l
,for atthe
end ofthe groove the record pl
ays
a sinu soidal
-l
ike l
oop to attractyou r
attention - itcertainl
y didhere.
Listening to Mel
anie D e Biasio's
new !iVi
aggi
o rel
ease [
P 1ASLL2O2C D ]
provided another change ofpace,
bu tthe perform ance rem ained
T h e S3 upg rad e push esth e 603
in to n ew territo ry.Even th o ug h it
d o esn ’td eplo y Bo w ers & W ilkin s’
m o stad van ced tech n o lo g ies,th is
en try-levello ud speakermo ves
clo serto th e 7 00 an d even th e
8 00 seri
es i
n term s o fclarity
an d so un d stag in g .‘T rickled o w n ’
m ig h th ave a bad rap w h en it
co mes to eco n o mics,buti
n th e
case o faud io d esig n i
tpro ves
w o rth w h ile.Fo rth e m o n ey th is i
s
an excellen tlo ud speaker.
SoundQ ual
i
t
y188%
100
ABOVE:Respo n se i
n c.n earf
ield summed d river/po rt
[g reen ,f
reef
ield co rrected to Im at2.83V [yello w ],
ultraso n i
c [pi
n k].Lef
t,bl
ack;rig h t,red ;w .g rille,blue
Dd B
■111
20
30
-so
200
SOO
Ik
2k
5k
!
Ok
riM iutn cy in
2< Jk
6DkHi
ei
si
n creased h ereto reveal3SkHz treble
ABOVE: scal
d o me reso n an ce.I
n -ban d mo d es arew ell-co n tro lled
-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
Sen sitivity (SP L/lin/2.8 3V - Ik Hz /M ean/IEC )
S9.7dB / 8 8 .7dB / 8 7.2dB
Im p ed an ce m o d ulus:m in im um
8 l m axi
m um (2U Hz -20 k Hz )
2.8 5ohiTi@ 113H2
27.7ohm @ 52H2
Im p ed an ce ph ase:m in im um
B l m axi
m um (20 H2-20 k Hz )
-7 2<'@ 64HZ
50 Q @ 1.3kHz
P airm ato h in g /Resp.erro r(20 0 Hz -20 k Hz )
0 .45dB '±3.8 dB '±3.9dB
LF/HF exten sio n (-G dB ief20 0 H2/10 k Hi!)
40 H2 /4 8 3^ ,4 8 .2kHz
T HD 1 00H z/lkH z/l0kH 2(fo r 90 dB SP l-Ini)
0 .4% f0 .0 4% / 0 .35%
Dim en sio n s (HW D ,no pl
inth) / W eig h t(each)
98 5x190 x340 m m
DECEMBER 2023
■28 k g
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 7 3
N ET W ORK -A T T A CHED DA C
Netw ork-attached DAC/ streamer
Made by: Masimo Consumer, I rvine, CA, USA
Supplied by: Masimo Consumer Europe, The Netherlands
Telephone: 0 2 8 9 0 279830
Web: w w w .denon.com ;w w w .masimo.co.uk/ consumer-audio
Price: £1399 (£1599 for ‘graphite silver’ colourw ay)
DenonDNP -20 0 0 NE_ _ _ _ _ _ _
Following hard on the heels of Denon’s DCD/ PMA-1700NE SACD player/ amplifier, this
new network-attached DAC brings a host of streaming options - including HEOS
Review: Jamie Biesemans Lab: Paul Miller
for a broad offering of digitalfilter op tions,
ur review of the Denon PM A1 7 00NE am p lifier [HFN M ay ’23] as Denon p refers a fixed filter, and its ow n
U ltra AL32 p rocessing. This up sam p les the
included the observation that
digital stream , and is a stalw art of other
the Jap anese brand w as m issing
Denon
a standalone stream er.A glaring oversi
ght,p roducts, including the CD/SACDpllayi
ng D CD -1 7 00NE [HFN M ay ’23]
.
it seem ed at the tim e, as D enon in al
other
resp ects is a believer in offering sim ilarly
SCREEN PA RT N ER
dressed sep arates for a neat hi-fistack. So
w hile you could p air the PM A-1 7 00NE (or
Perhap s to m ake up for being a bit ‘late to
another PM A series am p ) w ith a D CD series the gam e’,the D NP-2000NE is m ore than
p urely a netw ork audio p layer w ith a builtCD p layer or a Denon turntable, ifyou
w anted to listen to your Tidal p laylists you
in D AC.A p lethora of digital inp uts allow s
had to look elsew here.The introduction of easy connection of external digital sources,
the £1 39 9 D NP-2000NE closes the loop .
including a com p uter via USB-B.This
sup p orts 38 4kH z/32-bit PCM and 1 1 .2M H z
M anufactured at D enon’s Shirakaw a
DSD, and such files are also p layable over
factory, and sp orting the sturdy chassis
your hom e netw ork,via Ethernet or in-built
and m etalfacep late to com p lem ent other
W i-Fi, bandw idth p erm itting. O p tical and
D enon com p onents, this stream ing D AC
isn’t only m eant to be a com p anion for
coaxial connections are also p rovided for
the PM A-1 7 00NE.As the different m odel
both source hardw are and to use the
D NP-2000NE as a digitaltransp ort.
num ber hints, it could be com bined w ith
Som ething of a surp rise on a D AC at
other D enon am p lifiers, such as the older
this p rice is the H DM IARC p ort.This m eans
PM A-1 6 00NE or ’2500NE [H F/V Aug ’1 6 ]
.
the unit can bridge the gap betw een your
D enon m akes this clear by p roviding a
third colour op tion next to the traditional
black and silver - for a £200 p rem ium ,
the D NP-2000NE is also available in the
luxurious G rap hite Silver colourw ay found
on the brand’s PM A-A1 1 0 and D CD -A 1 1 0
m odels [HFN D ec ’20]
, launched to
celebrate its 1 1 0th anniversary. O w ners of
these lim ited (but still available) birthday
units can add the stream er and retain the
seam less look oftheir system .
O
F OU R IS T HE M A GIC N U M BER
At the heart of the D NP-2000NE are four
low -p ow er ES9 01 8 K2M chip s in a quad
D AC arrangem ent. These are not the
latest or greatest designs from ESS, but
as PM ’s Lab Rep ort show s [see p 7 7 ]that
doesn’t m ean the unit underp erform s,
help ed by the differential dep loym ent p er
channel and D enon’s ‘D AC M aster Clock’
technology. H ow ever, don’t set off looking
R IG H T: Tw o m ains tran sform ers [top ]feed
sep arate PSU s forthe w ireless/BT PCB [b ottom ],
XM O S and Bu rr-Brow n d igitalin p u treceivers
[b ottom right],8U ltra A L329D SP [top left]and
an alogu e stage w ithfou r ES901 8K 2M D A Cs [left]
74
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
D ECEM BER 2023
television and stereo system , m aking it
an op tion for anyone w ith a legacy am p
to im p rove TV sound, if outp ut as PCM .
It’s quite clever: you can use the sup p lied
IR control cable to link the D NP-2000NE
w ith a com p atible D enon am p lifier, and
then drive the latter’s volum e via your
TV ’s rem ote, even ifyou’re connected to
the fixed line outp ut from the stream er.
U sing the D NP-2000NE’s variable outp ut,
m eanw hile,you can drive active sp eakers the H DM I CEC p rotocolw ill govern the DSP
volum e control in the ’2000NE.
M U LT IPLE CHOICE
Regards the unit’s stream ing functions,
these are m yriad - few m anufacturers these
days p rovide only one op tion because
audiop hiles w ant to use their p referred
service or softw are, and not be forced to
use a brand-sp ecific ap p . D enon endow s
the D NP-2000NE w ith Ap p le AirPlay 2,
and sup p ort for stream ing over (tw o-w ay)
Bluetooth and UPnP. In short, ow ners can
U LF HA AL 3?
It'
access just about any stream ing service
or their ow n netw ork-stored m usic files.
Sp otify Connect is onboard too, and the
D NP-2000NE leverages H EOS,the in-house
ap p -driven stream ing and m ultiroom
p latform that has been a feature on Denon
hardw are (including w ireless sp eakers
and soundbars) for alm ost ten years [see
boxout, below ]
.
Som ething m issing from
the sp ecification sheet is
Roon Ready status,w hich
has becom e a feature
of m any netw ork audio
p layers targeting the
‘above entry-level’crow d.
Through AirPlay 2,the
D NP-2000 does have ‘Roon Tested’status,
but this doesn’t deliver total control nor
the stream ing of high-resolution m aterial.
Additionally, quite a few m odern stream ers,
such as Auralic’s Aries G 1 .1 [HFN Jun ’23]
,
can function as a m edia server ifyou
attach storage. This isn’t p ossible w ith the
D NP-2000NE, but it w ill p layback hi-res
file form ats (FLAC,ALAC,W AV ,AIFF and
DSD) from the USB p ort on the front-p anel,
adjacent to its 6 .35m m headp hone outp ut.
©
SON IC SY N ERGY
W hile the D NP-2000NE is a stream er
ready for all kinds of configurations, it’s
nevertheless a ‘natural’fit w ith a PM A1 7 00NE am p and
D CD -1 7 00NECD /SA CD
p layer,w hich w ere the
m odels Iused for the
m ajority of m y listening
sessions.Together
w ith DALI Rubicon 2
standm ount loudsp eakers
this m ade for an elegant
hi-fisystem , and one w ith a good synergy
betw een the D enon sep arates.
O ffering a detailed p erform ance,
the D NP-2000NE p roved entirely
com p lem entary to the direct and p ow erful
p resentation of D enon’s am p lifier w hen
stream ing Kjartan Sveinsson’s D er K lang
D er Offenbarung D es G bttlichen [Society
‘Itdeliversthe
pristineclassics,
andFriday
nightplaylist’
HEOS HU B U PDA T E
The H EO S m u ltiroom ,m u lti-service stream in g/
con troller ap p has,on the face of it,hard ly
chan ged sin ce its in trod u ction in 201 4 [see
screen shots,right]. Stu n g,p erhap s,b y the rich
exp erien ces offered b y the likes of Son os,Roon
or b ran d ap p s like A u ralic9s Lightn in g [H FN N ov
923],there has b een w ork d on e b ehin d the
scen es,focu sin g on stab ility. Platform grow th
in trod u ced a lotof su b -op tim al cod e,w e9re
told ,an d clearin g thatu p w as the p riority u n til
this year. The clean -u p op eration has p aved the
w ay for a m aj
or v3.0 red esign that9lltu rn u p in
early 2024 . O n e b ig chan ge is the ap p earan ce
of a H om e screen show in g favou rite sou rces,station s an d p laylists.
In term s of fu n ction ality there w ill b e little chan ge an d the
ap p w ill still fu n ction as a com p lete rem ote for the D N P-2000N E,
lettin g you selectan d con trol stream in g services,m u sic files an d
p hysical in p u ts. O n e clear ad van tage of H EO S is its su p p ortfor
hi-res form ats,in clu d in g D SD stream s. It9s also easy to lin k the
D N P-2000N E to u p to sixteen H EO S d evices,su ch as w ireless H om e
sp eakers,stream in g am p lifiers an d AV receivers from D en on an d
M aran tz,an d au d io d evices from Polk an d D efin itive Techn ology.
A B O V E: The sm oothly con tou red fascia
m atches m ostofD en on 9s recen tsep arates.
U SB d rives are su p p orted via the U SB-A p ortb u t
alb u m text,n otartw ork,is show n on the d isp lay
of Sound 1 01 ; 48 kH z/24-bit]
. Part one
(or rather ‘Teil 1 ’) ofthis stirring op era
com p osed by the Sigur Ros keyboardist
and p erform ed by the G erm an Film
O rchestra Babelsberg builds from a snail’s
p ace to a crescendo that hits ever-higher
notes.The string section never seem s to
stop edging further up the scale, w hich
m ight otherw ise be an invitation for som e
harshness or artificiality to rear its head.
That w asn’t case here as the DNP2000NE im p ressed w ith a natural-sounding
and airy p resentation. Neither did D enon’s
D AC lose track ofthe finer detail ofthe
background p ercussion,w hich Sveinsson
dep loys to evoke the crashing ofw aves,
even though - m ercifully w ith this track - it
softens up a bit on the high-end, ensuring
the finalfew bars did not grate.
There’s a lot of sp atial detail on offer
during Teils II, III and IV ,w hich add choral
singing to the m ix. It’s quite an unusual
op era, as it w as p erform ed
w ithout a single actor on stage;
the audience w ere instead
greeted by p ainted landscap e
decors and effects (such as
snow and a realcam p fire).That
elem ent ofthe p erform ance w as
m issing - lighting a fire in the G>
D ECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
75
w ebsite:w w w .jo rd an aco ustics.co .uk
tel0 120 2 911 8 8 6 em ailask @ j
ordanacou stics.co.u k
Sonusfabef
The natu ralsou ndof
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D u etto
£3,490/pair
Optionaldedicated stands avail
abl
e £649/pair.
0% FINANCE EX AM P L E*
Initial20 % depositof£698.00,th en
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o
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ectto statu s & term s/conditions.
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ease ask for fu rther detail
s.
W an tto trad e-up o rlo o kin g to ch an g e a co m po n en t? Callo rem ailto f
in d o uth o w w e can h elp yo u
LAB
REP ORT
DEN ON DN P-2000N E
ABOVE:Di
gi
tali
n sin cl
ud e2.
4GHz/5GHzwi
rel
ess(i
n cBT )an d w ired Eth ern et,U SB B
(384kHz/32-bi
tan d DSD256 asDo P),HDMIARC,tw o o pti
calan d o n eco axi
alS/PDI
F
1 92kHz/24-bi
t),o pticalan d co axi
ald ig italo utsarein cl
ud ed abo ve!
ixed an d
variablean al
o g ueo utputso n RCAs
l
istening room isagainsthou se ru l
es
-bu tenj
oying this m u sic stream ed
via HEOS on the D N P -20 0 0 N E,itw as
easy to im agine how im m ersive the
perform ance m u sthave been.
RICH PICK IN GS
C om paring the ‘virtu al’ stream
ofM ettavol
uti
on by Rodrigo y
G abriel
a[
Ru byw ork s 538 471642;
44.1 k Hz /24-bit]w ith the discversion
spinning on the D C D -17G ONE,there
w as little difference to be noted the pl
ayer u ses a B u rr-B row n D AC ,
bu tboth have been sim il
arl
y tu ned.
Andj
u stasthe D C D -170 0 N E does
for discs,the D N P -20 0 0 N E isadept
atconveying m u sic stream s w ith a
sense ofem otion.The tw ang ofthe
strings or the patting ofthe gu itar
body on the al
bu m 's title track w ere
notpresented astoo dry,bu tl
ifel
ik e
andw ith rich harm onics.
The above m ightsu ggestthat
the D N P -20 0 0 N E l
acks su btl
ety,
so 1shou l
d be cl
ear thatw hil
e it
doesn'tappear to strive for u l
tim ate
resol
u tion,itdoes del
iver a coherent
perform ance w ith a high l
evelof
detailand,above al
l
,rhythm ic
panache. These are fine q u al
ities for
am u l
tifu nctionalprodu ctthatm ight
notonl
y be cal
l
ed u pon to pl
ay
pristine au diophil
e
cl
assics,bu tal
so
del
iver the Friday
nightpl
ayl
ist.
The obviou s
rol
e for the D NP 20 0 0 N E is as a
netw ork stream er,
bu tl
istening via its
USB-B por tis al
so
w orthw hil
e. It's not
thatthis offered a
LEFT :Den o n suppl
i
es
f
tsRC-1 248 system
remo te co n tro lw ith
th e DNP-2000NE,
bri
n gi
n g in put
sel
ecti
o n ,vo lume,
m utean d accessto
th e co n f
ig uratio n
men u [seeHEOS
bo xo ut,p7 5]
night-and-day im provem ent,bu t
sam pl
ing C ow boy Ju nkies'Songs
O fThe Recol
l
ecti
on [
P RP C D 160 ;
44.1 k Hz /24-bit]via Roon on a
M acB ook added a sm idge ofextra
openness and a sw eeter tone to the
sl
ide gu itar on 'N o Expectations'.
Overal
l
,sw itching back andfor th
betw een stream ing via rooExtend/
UP nP ,and m y MacB ook via USB,it
w as hardto pu tafinger on specifics,
bu tthe perform ance feltj
u sta bit
tighter w ith the l
atter.
Testedvia its fixed,singie-endedou tpu t,the D N P -20 0 0 N E
offers a 2.22V m axim u m ou tpu t(re. OdBFs)from a m oderate
96ohm sou rce im pedance. The 110 dB A-w td S/N ratio i
svery
generou s j
u stas its l
ow -l
evell
inearity isim pressivel
y precise,w ith
errors ofj
u st±0 .1 dB over a 10 0 dB dynam ic range and±0 .4dB
over a 110 dB range. This 'dean'perform ance istestam ent
notonl
y to D enon's anal
ogu e stage,bu tal
so to its choice of
ES90 18 K2M D AC s,a pair em pl
oyedin differentialfashion per
channel
.AH ESS D AC s incl
u de proprietary j
itter su ppression,
real
isedhere in figu res of<30 psecfor al
lsam pl
e rates. In fact
the ±50 Hz ,± 1OOHz ,etc,sidebands resol
vedin the j
itter test
[
see G raph 2,bel
ow ]are indistingu ishabl
e from avery l
ow l
evel
P SU m odu l
ation.Athigher l
evel
s ("50 0 psec)this type ofj
itter
typical
l
y has aw arm ing or fattening infl
u ence over l
ow bass
detail
,bu tisu nl
ik el
y to exertany infl
u ence here.
D istortion i
sal
so as l
ow as m ightbe expected from pairs
ofES90 18 D AC s- asl
ow as0 .0 0 0 25% over the top 30 dB ofits
range throu gh the m idrange and0 .0 0 0 5% at20 k Hz [
see G raph
1j
.A regu l
ar featu re ofD enon’s'digital
'produ cts i
sits 'U l
tra
AL32 processing'w hich,notu nl
ik e EdM eitner's MD AT2 adaptive
fil
ter al
gorithm [HFN Sep '21]. sw itches coefficients depending
on w hether the m u sic istransient-rich or inherentl
y steady-state.
In the l
atter case its response isfl
atto w ithin ±0 .1dB to 20 k Hz
bu tw ith dynam ic signal
s a sl
ow roil
-offl
inear filter type bites
above ~ 17k Hz to yiel
d-2.6dB /20 k Hz (a!!44.1/48 k Hz data).W ith
96k Hz fil
es itreaches -4.0 dB /45k Hz ,andw ith 192k Hz data it
rol
l
s aw ay to -12.3dB /90 k Hz . As a resu l
t,the D N P -20 0 0 N E does
notbehave l
ike a ‘pl
ain vanil
l
a'ES 90 18 im pl
em entation. P M
Y ES,BOSS
W hatabou tthatHD M]inpu t?
W el
l
,there’ sa lotofgood m u sic
contentto be fou nd on you r sm art
TV. One ofm y favou rites isB ruce
Sp ri
ngsteen'
s LetterTo You, a sw eet
and poignantAppl
e TV docu m entary
covering the recording ofthe artist's
20 20 al
bu m ofthe sam e nam e,and
tou ching u pon S pringsteen com ing
to term s w ith his advancing years.
I've w atched itm any tim es in
its D ol
by Atm os incarnation,bu tin
stereo throu gh the D N P -20 0 0 N E
andthe restofthe D enon separates
itw as eq u al
l
y del
ightfu l- crisp,
envel
oping and intense. Everything
abou tthe produ ction -the bl
ack
andw hite im agery,S pringsteen's
voice-over,the excel
l
entrecording
ofthe band- is m ade to pu l
lyou in.
The w el
l
-featu red D N P -20 0 0 N E w as
u p to the chal
l
enge. O
Sure to satisf
y Den o n o w n ers
keen to ad d stream in g to th eir
setup,th e DNP -2000NE o f
f
ers a
lo tatan ag reeable price,f
ro m
app co n tro lto HDM Ico n n ectivity
-butth an kf
ully th e bran d h asn ’t
f
o cused so lely o n f
un ctio n ality.
Ef
f
o rtputin to th e un d erlyin g
electro n ics reaps perf
o rm an ce
rew ard s,w h eth erh eard via
stream in g o rU S8.T h is i
sa f
in eso un d in g an d versatile un itth at
d eserves bro ad er atten tio n .
SoundD ual
i
t
y:85%
0
- - - - - - - -
100
.n
2#
ABOVE:Disto rtio n vs.48 kHz/24-bitd ig italsi
g n all
evel
!
o vera 1 20d B d yn amic ran g e (black, 1 kHz;blue,20kHz)
ABOVE:Hig h reso lutio n 48 kHz/24-bitjitterspectra
w ith markers sh o w in g m in o rPSU -in d uced sid eban d s
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
M axim um o utp ut levelfim p ed an ce
2.22V rm s / 96ol
irn
A-w td Sf
N ratio (
SfP D l
l
- fN etw ork )
10 9.9JB / 10 9.8 dB
D isto rtio n (l
kH2> OdB FspS OdB Fi)
0 .0 0 0 3^ f0 .0 0 0 6ft;
Disto rtio n & No ise (20 kH2,OdBFspSOdBFs)
0 .0 0 13^ fO.OOOTf
t
S
Freq .resp .(20 Hz -20 k Hz ,'45k Hz f90 k Hz )
+ 0 .0 Lu -0 .1dB f-4.0 dB /-12d6
D ig ita ljitter (48 k Hz /96k Hz )
S Opset; IS pfiec
Reso lutio n (1kHz @ -l
O O dB Fif-110 dBFs)
± 0 JdB /±0 .4dB
P o w erco n sum p tio n
21W (2W sLandbyj
Dim en sio n s (W HD ) /W eig h t
434x10 7x374rnin ;9.7k g
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 7 7
BEH IN D TH E M U SIC W ITH H I-FI N EW S & RECO RD REVIEW
Tchaikovsky
TheNutcracker
Christmas entertainment, orchestral showpiece or a human drama? This farewell to the
stage is all three, says Peter Quantrill, as he sits down with boxes of Sugar-Plum Fairies
W atch
ow did N utcracker ever
catch on? Follow ing the
ou tfor
p rem iere in St Petersburg : the M ou se-King:
in D ecem ber 1 8 9 2, one
: the Bolshoi
• Ballet9s su p ercritic delivered the coup de grace.
trad itional
‘First of all,N utcracker can in:*no
• staging,on Bel
event be called a ballet. It does
: Air Classiqu es
not com p ly w ith even one ofthe
dem ands m ade of a ballet. Ballet, as
a basic genre of art, is m im ed dram a
and consequently m ust contain all
the elem ents of norm al dram a.’
‘On the other hand’,the critic
continued, ‘there m ust be a p lace
in ballet for dances, m ade up of
the entire essence of classical
choreograp hy. There is nothing
of this in N utcracker.There is not
even a subject’.
H
A
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•
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4
•
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*
Yet N utcracker did catch on,
not just as Tchaikovsky’s sw ansong
(p un intended) to the dram atic
m edium that suited him best,
but as a gatew ay to the w orld of
classical m usic as w ell as ballet for
children and adults alike. Purely as
a score,Act 1 ’s transform ation from
dom estic p arlour to fir-forest deep
in snow is one ofthe great rom antic
m om ents.The battle scene keep s up
a p rolonged, sp arky anim ation w ith
at least as m uch brilliance as any of
the sym p honic scherzos and finales.
and the toys, w hich have com e
alive.W hen the M ouse-King is about
to defeat the nutcracker in single
com bat, Clara saves him by throw ing
her slip p er at the M ouse-King.
The Christm as tree suddenly
T OY ST ORY
grow s to enorm ous dim ensions,the
nutcracker turns into
Too harsh? The p lot in a nutshell
a handsom e p rince
is adap ted from a tale by ETA
and thanks Clara for
H offm ann.A Christm as p arty is
interrup ted by Drosselm ayer,
her deed.They p ass
beneath the branches
the godfather ofthe Silberhaus
ofthe Christm as
children. H e brings gifts including
a nutcracker to w hich young
tree into a snow y
:
Peter
landscap e and on to
•
W right9s
Clara is im m ediately attracted.
Confiturem bourg,
: version of
After bedtim e, Clara creep s
: M ariu s Petip a9s
back dow nstairs to check on the
the Land of Sw eets,w here the
nutcracker,w hich has been broken. : choreograp hy for : nutcracker’s safe return is cause for
: the RoyalBallet, the divertissem ent,w hich takes up
The room is invaded by m ice and
m ost ofthe w ork’s second act.
: on O p u s Arte
a battle ensues betw een the m ice
The story,w hile quaint, has
obvious structural defects.An
action-p acked Act 1 is follow ed by
an exp ansive set oftableaux for
Act 2.The choreograp her M arius
Petip a w as w ell aw are of this w hen
he becam e m ysteriously indisp osed
halfw ay through rehearsals, and
his colleague Lev Ivanov took
charge. Initially fired by the p roject,
Tchaikovsky also began to have
m isgivings, though he continued
to fill Petip a’s exacting briefto
V
O
P
U
the quaver. ‘Coffee.Arabian,the
S
U
Y
.
Kingdom ofYem en. Coffee M ocha.
D
:
O
Eastern D ance from 24 to 32 bars of
T
O
H
P
cloying and bew itching m usic.’
iSW EET SOU N DS
: The endless variety ofthe
: orchestration is cap p ed by the
:* introduction ofthe celesta for the
• D ance ofthe Sugar-Plum Fairy.This
: w as an entirely new instrum ent
(p ercussion w ith a
keyboard) at the tim e,
w hich Tchaikovsky had
sp ecially im p orted,
and then sm uggled
into the theatre under
w rap s so that no other
com p oser w ould steal
the sound of glitter
• and ice and m agic from him .
:
The p rotean identity of
• N utcracker has enabled it to take
• on entirely sep arate costum es and
• form s.W hat view ers w ant from
• a fully staged ballet is entirely
: different to the criteria by w hich a
: com p lete version ofthe score, as an
: exp erience p urely for the ears,w ill
: be judged. The Suite from the ballet
: has earned a sep arate identity in
• its ow n right, both as an orchestral
: selection of highlights, and in
• various p iano arrangem ents.
:
Purely as a dem onstration of
j conducting sorcery,for exam p le,
: Sergiu Celibidache’s late-late craw l
• through the Suite, exquisitely
: p layed by the M unich Philharm onic
• (EM I/W arner) exerts m agnetic
: fascination. At the other end of
‘Thesehi
-fi
spectaculars
arefait
hfult
o
thescore’
A
78
w w w .hifin ew s.co .u k
D ECEM B ER 2 0 2 3
4
the tem p o envelop e,the p ianism
of M artha Argerich is never m ore
m ercurially bew itching than in her
duet recording (DG) ofthe suite in
com p any w ith Nicolas Econom ou.
For a m ore central recom m endation
in the Suite,the Berlin Philharm onic
under M stislav Rostrop ovich (also
DG) brings a snap p y, articulate
brilliance to the dance rhythm s
not m atched by heavier and m ore
reverential Russian versions from
M ravinsky and Svetlanov.
In the 1 9 50s,the new m edium
of LP p roved idealfor a com p lete
recording ofthe score, com fortably
fitting on tw o records. In a sep arate
but related develop m ent, G eorge
Balanchine created a new staging of
the ballet, p rem iered in 1 9 54, w hich
sim ultaneously created a new North
Am erican holiday tradition and
ensured the financial stability ofthe
New York City Ballet. Record labels
saw the p otentialfor a hit.
First out ofthe blocks w as Antal
D orati, both in m ono and then
•
Snow
:
flu rry
• city:the corp s
: ofthe N ew York
: City Balletin
: Balanchine9s
: m u ch-loved
: version,on the
«
: C m aj
or lab el
I
*
un
(Z)
s
*
:
•
:
•
•
:
■
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
Essential Recordings below ]are
m ore balletically sp rung, building
tow ards an ap otheosis w ith the
em otional charge ofthe P athetique
or E ugene Onegin. Esp ecially under
Previn and Jurow ski,the lugubrious
clarinet ofthe Arabian dance tap s
into the m elancholy vein ofthe
Fifth Sym p hony,w here m any other
versions conjure a generically
p seudo-eastern m oodiness.
J SILVER SCREEN
: For the full exp erience ofN utcracker
: as Tchaikovsky and Petip a conceived
M agic
• it, a film version w ill alw ays surp rise
tricks and : inveterate listeners to the score w ith
: transform ations • the ever-ingeniously close m atch
: in a w ell-grooved : of m usic to m ovem ent. Petip a’s
: tou ring staging ; choreograp hy is best exp erienced
: in the longstanding but continually
: b y the Ballet
: ofthe N ational • up dated version for the Royal Ballet
: O p era of U kraine : by Peter W right (Op us Arte),though
■
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*
■
#
stereo w ith the M inneap olis SO. It
w as hard-driven,w ith tem p ithat
w ould challenge the m ost athletic
of dancers, but w as calculated
to sp ring from the sp eakers in
M ercury’s Living Presence sound.
D ecca soon follow ed w ith the
tech-saw y Ernest Anserm et in
G eneva, m aking the m ost oftheir
ow n p rop rietorial ‘ffrr’set-up .Their
m odern counterp arts are G ergiev
w ith his Kirov orchestra on Philip s the first to squeeze the w hole ballet
on a single CD - and D udam el in
Los Angeles, w rap p ing the listener
in blizzards oftinsel and snow w ith
D olby Atm os surround sound.
These hi-fisp ectaculars are
faithfulto the dots ofthe score, less
to its sp irit as m usic for dancing.
Jurow ski, Pletnev and Previn [see
• there is no shortage of sup erficially
:• m ore ‘authentic’versions from
: Russia including G ergiev and the
: Kirov in situ (W arner Classics).
:
Dm itriTcherniakov p lays fast
: and very loose w ith the scenario in
• his Paris staging, but his reuniting
: ofthe ballet w ith its original
: com p anion op era, Iolanta,fuses the
: tw o into a com p elling new tragedy.
: The Salzburg M arionette Theatre
: p resents a surp risingly un-w ooden
: staging to the accom p anim ent of
: Anserm et’s recording (Belvedere).
O nce you have seen G eorge
Balanchine’s staging, how ever, it’s
: hard to go back to Russian dolls.
: Recognisably m odern in outlook,yet
: honouring at every stage the w inter
• m agic ofthe original scenario, the
: New York City Ballet p resents the
j m ost hum an and heart-w arm ing
: N utcracker to be found on film .O
•
A
ESSEN TIA L R ECO R D IN G S
*
State Acad em ic SO o fRussia/Juro w ski
Pentatone PTC5186761 (2CDs)
Pick of the bunch on CD: expansive
engineering holds the old-school Russian
grandeur of the playing in perfect focus.
New Yo rk City Ballet/O tran to
C major 738704/ 738608 (Blu-ray/ DVD)
Balanchine’s hit version for NYCB transfers
to the screen as a Christmas treat for all the
family, beautifully filmed and played.
Russian Natio n alOrch estra/P letn ev
Ondine ODE1180-2D (2CDs)
A quirky alternative: Pletnev never drives
the tempi too hard and opens up the score’s
countless felicities and novelties.
Ro yalBallet/G ruzin
Opus Arte OABD7229D/ OA1252D (Blu-ray/ DVD)
The best of several modern Royal Ballet
versions. Lauren Cuthbertson’s immaculate
Sugar-Plum Fairy plus exciting pit work.
LSO/P revin (released 201 6)
EMI/ Warner 5419734650/ 9029592391 (CD/ LP)
An analogue classic, with the ’70s LSO brass
and EMI’s Abbey Road engineering sounding
even finer on the new LP remastering.
Opera d e P aris/Altin o g lu
Bel Air BAC445/ BAC145 (Blu-ray/ DVD)
The left-field choice, but also the ‘authentic’
one, paired with I olanta as at the premiere, in
Dmitri Tcherniakov’s radical staging.
D ECEM B ER 2 0 2 3
w w w .hifin ew s.co .u k
79
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STEVE SUTHERLAND
Steve edited NME from 1992-2000, the Britpop
yyyyyy/ ' years, launching NME.com and reviving the
v / / / / / / N M E A w a r ds. Previously he was Assistant
/ / / / / / /
Editor on Melody Maker. Among his many
adventures he has been physically threatened
by Axl Rose, hung out awhile with Jerry Garcia
and had a drink or two with Keith Richards...
BEHIND T HE M U SIC W IT H HI-FINEW S & RECORD REVIEW
Sl
yA ndTheFamily
This album showcases the rule-breaking, genre-busting
band in their prime, says Steve Sutherland, as he soaks
up the sounds of its 20 songs, reissued on 180g vinyl
jyou ng teen over 50 years ago.The fil
m is
y friends and I
,w e w ere
: am az ing,the perform ances never short
su it-and-tie gu ys...’ This is
D arrylLLew is speak ing. D on’t : ofstu nning. There’sNina Sim one,The
w orry,it’su nl
ik el
y you ’l
lhave : C ham bers Brothers,Stevie W onder,The
es Singers,Mahal
ia Jackson,The 5th
heardofD arryl
. He’sone ofthe peopl
e that •Stapl
m u sician and record produ cer Q u estl
ove
: D im ension... Bu tw hat’sprom pted D arryl
’s
invited into the editsu ite w hen assem bl
ing : grinning su it-and-tie confession isw atching
the footage for Sum m erO fSoul
, the fil
m
: the k itschy syncopated dance m oves of
*
adys Knights’ P ipsand D avid Ru ffin.
he created in 20 21 docu m enting the 1969 : G l
Harl
em C u l
tu ralFestival
,w hich took pl
ace : ‘W e cou l
dn’tsing,he chu ckl
es,‘w e
dn’tdo anything,bu tw e
on six Su ndays betw een Ju ne the 29th and •cou l
Au gu stthe 24th atM ou ntMorris P ark (now : thou ghtw e cou l
d dance,w e
1
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lthe m oves dow n...’
Marcu s G arvey P ark)in Harl
em ,NYC .
B ril
l
iantasthey are,
M IN IST RY OF F U N
•thou gh,it’sneither Ms Knight
The footage hadbeen
: nor Mr Ru ffin w e’re here to
l
angu ishing u nseen
eu l
ogise. It’sSl
y AndThe
in a basem entso
Fam il
y Stone w hose set
w hen D arrylgot
in the Sum m erO fSoul
to w atch it,it
m ovie isthe absol
u te crow ning
gl
ory. Historians ofpopu l
ar m u sic
w asfor the first
tim e since he’d
tendto heap so m any su perl
atives
actu al
l
y attended
on Sl
y’sbandthatit’sbecom e easy
the eventasa
to tak e their pl
ace in the pantheon
: ofgreatsfor granted. Re-l
istening,thank s
: to the rel
ease ofAnthol
ogy, confirm s al
l
V
: the pl
au dits andthen som e.Asanother
: com m entator in the SOS m ovie so aptl
y
*
■ pu ts it: ‘This iscl
earl
y a bandw ith an
: evangel
icalsense oftheir chu rch of
: psychedel
ic sou l
. It’sthe Ministry OfFu n.’
: W e are general
l
y notin the habitof
: covering ‘BestOf’sin this featu re bu t
: Anthol
ogy, firstrel
easedin 198 1,issu ch
a peerl
ess col
l
ection that
itw ou l
d be rem iss ofu s
notto recom m end itto
anyone w ho isn’tfam il
iar
w ith the w ondrou s Fam il
y
Stone,andeven ifyou ’re
a Sl
y aficionado and have
al
lthe grou nd-break ing,
m ind-bl
ow ing al
bu m s,this
: com pil
ation serves asa spl
endid pl
ayl
istof
: essentialtrack s. I
n fact- and Ido l
iteral
l
y
: m ean i
n fact-there isn’ta singl
e track ou t
: ofthe 20 here thatfal
l
s shortofanyw here
: in the region offantastic.
Thesesongs
arefull-on
clarioncalls
forpositivity’
:EVERY ON E’S A ST A R
♦
: W hether it’sthe good-tim ey singl
es ‘D ance
: To The Mu sic’,‘IW anna Take You Higher’
: and‘HotFu n I
n The S u m m ertim e’,or the
: harder,fu nk ier ‘Thank You for Tal
kin’ To Me
«
•Africa’,its bl
u eprint‘Thank You (Fal
ettinm e
: Be Mice El
fAgin)’,or the sparse,vocoder•drenchedfreak ou t‘D on’tC al
lMe...’,these
: are fu l
l
-on cl
arion cal
l
sfor positivity.
: Fu rtherm ore,from the heartfel
tpl
ea
: for generationalu nderstanding of‘Fam il
y
•Affair’,to ‘Everyday P eopl
e’shym n to
: racialharm ony (‘There isayel
l
ow one that
: w on’t/Acceptthe bl
ack oneffhatw on’t
: acceptthe redone/Thatw on’tacceptthe
: w hite one/D ifferentstrokesfor different
: fol
k s...’)or the does-w hat-it-says-on-the-tin
:l
ittl
e beau ties ‘You C an Make ItIfYou Try’
: and‘Everyone’sA Star’,there’snothing
•particu l
arl
y com pl
ex in these m essages.
: Another track ’stitl
e? ‘Sing A Sim pl
e Song’.
•N otw ithstanding the sonic andtechnical
: innovations w here the feelandvibe tak e
1precedence over perfection or precision,
: these are grow n-u p nu rsery rhym es,
*
T h e g ro up (l
-r):G reg Errico , Ro si
e Sto n e,Sl
y Sto n e,Cyn th ia Ro bin so n , Fred d ie
Sto n e,Jerry Martin i, Larry G rah am an d (in set)labelo fo rig in alU S release o n Epi
c
80 w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk DECEMBER 2023
Priced £47 .99,th e 1 80g rei
ssue o f
Sl
y An d T h e Family Sto n e’sAnthol
ogy
i
savailable o n lin e atw w w .roughtrade.com
del
iberatel
y created as l
a-di-da ear w orm s,
singsongs,com m u nalrej
oicings.They
neither ack now l
edge nor acceptany
m u sicalparam eters and hol
d no tru ck w ith
prej
u dice ofany kind.
W A LK T HE W A LK
Sl
y (realnam e Syl
vester)w as a prodigiou s
m u sician,brou ghtu p in the chu rch,w ho
l
anded in San Francisco to D Jdu ring the
Haight-Ashbu ry hippie l
ove-in years and
therefore k new w hattu rned peopl
e on.
And he w al
k ed itl
ike he tal
k ed it. The
grou p atits peak w as m u l
tiracialand pansexu al
,com prised ofSl
y on pretty m u ch
everything,his brother Freddie on gu itar
andsister Rose on keyboards,C ynthia
Robinson on keyboards,Jerry M artinion
sax,Larry G raham on bass,G reg Errico
on dru m s andal
landsu ndry on vocal
s
andshou t-ou ts. I
n other w ords,a l
iving,
breathing exam pl
e in the stu dio,on stage
andon the airw aves ofw hatothers w ere
debating andfighting over. U nity. No if
sor
bu ts,they w ere a revol
u tion.
Presssh o to fSl
y Sto n e by U rve
Kuusi
k,i
ssued by Epi
ci
n 1 969
Back to D arryl
:‘W hen you saw a bl
ack
grou p,w hatyou expectedto see w as,
general
l
y speak ing,al
lm en,al
ldressed
in m atching su its,ready before they ever
hitthe stage to perform . He [
the MC ]
introdu ced Sl
y andthe firstthing that
happensto the au dience isthe feel
ing of
apprehension becau se j
u stbecau se they
introdu ced Sl
y doesn’tm ean he’sthere.
Ital
so doesn’tm ean he’scom ing ou t
im m ediatel
y... [
B u t]assoon aseverything
w as k ick in’,itw as onV
: the l
ikes ofP rince,Mil
es D avis,Bob Marl
ey,
: MichaelJackson,G eorge C l
inton,Tu pac
: Shaku r,D r. D re,Beyonce,Lenny Kravitz,
: Frank Ocean... bl
im ey,j
u stabou teveryone
: w ho’sany good. Asone ofthe scribbl
ers
: pu tit: ‘There are tw o types ofbl
ack m u sic:
• bl
ack m u sic before Sl
y Stone,and bl
ack
: m u sic after Sl
y S tone’.
:
C an’targu e w ith thatbu tIprefer ou r
: friend D arryl
’spay-offl
ine in the m ovie. ‘My
: grou p ofgu ys,w e w ere su it-and-tie gu ys.
: Then w e saw Sl
y andw e w ere no l
onger
•su it-and-tie gu ys.The change,’ he saysw ith
CIRCU S OF SOU N D A N D VISION
a chu ckl
e,‘w as in effect’.0
Sl
y AndThe Fam il
y Stone w ere one of
•
the firstgrou ps to do w hatthey w anted,
:
w hen they w anted. No ru l
es appl
ied. Later, • RE-RELEASE VERDICT
eased by Epic on dou bl
e LP and
sadl
y,noteven their ow n - cocaine saw
: Firstrel
e cassette in 198 1,andfeatu ring
to that. Bu tin their absol
u te pom p there
• singl
y AndThe Fam il
y
w as,and never has been since,anything
: 20 songs from Sl
ate ’60 s/earl
y ’70 s peak,
to tou ch them . Fringe j
ack ets,pim p hats, • S tone’sl
ation al
bu m Anthol
ogy
w raparou nd shades,m agnificentafros,
: the com pil
abl
e on 18 0 g vinylfrom
beads and bel
l
s... they w ere a hal
l
u cinatory • isnow avail
ands-basedau diophil
el
abel
carnivalofpride,an exotic,dow n-hom e
: N etherl
MOVLP 3394C ].
circu s ofsou ndandvision.They m ade their • Mu sic On Vinyl[
ow n tim e andexistedw ithin it.
: Retaining the originalartw ork and
isting,this l
im ited edition reissu e
Another com m entator on Sum m erO f
* track l
l
y nu m beredcopies
Soulcal
l
sthe grou p ‘transform ative’.The
: of30 0 0 individu al
d sl
eeve for its
party hadcom e to tow n andeveryone w as j com es w ith a gatefol
ou redvinylLP s. HFN
invited. The freedom party,thatis.W hen
: tw o pink -col
Sl
y w as in the hou se,there w as,astheir
• Sound Qual
i
t
y:90%
1971 LP accl
aim ed,a riotgoin’ on.
•
100
Assaid,m u sic w riters have l
au dedSl
y
•
AndThe Fam il
y Stone for their infl
u ence on :
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk 81
VIN Y L ICON S
BEHIND T HE M U SIC W IT H HI-FINEW S & RECORD REVIEW
P etShop Boys,actually.
P etShop BoysActually
Arriving j
u stayear after their 198 6 debu tPl
ease, the British el
ectro-pop du o’ssecond
al
bu rn sol
idifiedtheir chart-topping statu s,thank sto a bigger produ ction infl
u enced by
ZZ Top,a gu estappearance from D u sty S pringfiel
d,andsom e cl
assictu nes...
W ords:Jo h n n y Sh arp
82
w w w .h ifin ew s.co .uk
DECEM BER 2023
t’sa m al
aise al
m ostas
ol
d as pop m u sic itsel
f.
Secondal
bu m syndrom e
-the crisisfaced by an
artistw riting the fol
l
ow -u p to
a hitdebu tLP ,w hen they real
ise
thatafter having hadtheir w hol
e
l
ivesto com e u p w ith the contents
oftheir firstoffering to the w orl
d,
they now onl
y have afew m onths
to ru stl
e u p afresh batch ofeq u al
l
y
strong m aterialfor the fol
l
ow -u p.
That’snotsu ch a probl
em ,
thou gh,ifyou have a su fficientl
y
l
arge stock pil
e ofgreatsongs
before you hitthe big tim e that
there’senou gh top-notch m aterial
to fil
ltw o al
bu m s. N oelG al
l
agher
su ggestedthatw asthe case w ith
Oasis,hence the strength oftheir
firsttw o offerings. Andithel
ps
expl
ain how the P etShop Boys
fol
l
ow ed u p their 198 6 debu tPl
ease
w ith an even m ore strik ing and
pol
ishedsetofdance-pop gem s on
198 7’sActual
l
y. Itw ou l
dtu rn ou t
to be the du o’sdefining rel
ease,
the fou r hitsingl
es itspaw ned
rem aining am ong the band’sbest
l
ovedcom positions from a career
spanning nearl
y 40 years.
OPPORT U N IT Y K N OCK S
Asfar back as 198 2,NeilTennant
andC hris Low e hadbeen w ork ing
regu l
arl
y on dem os in a sm al
l
C am den stu dio,having m etthe year
before in a King’sRoadhi-fishop
w here the form er bou ghta Korg
synthesiser andthey bonded over
a shared l
ove ofdisco andsynth
pop. W hil
e Tennant,by thatpointa
j
ou rnal
istw ith pop m ag Sm ash Hi
ts,
w as in N ew York interview ing Sting,
he sou ghtou tcu l
tdisco produ cer
T
Sid e
1 of
th e o rig in al
LP o n th e
Parlo ph o n e
label
Ch ri
s
Lo w e
(lef
t)an d Neil
T en n an ti
n
a press sh o t
i
ssued by EMI
Man h attan
Reco rd s i
n
1 988
Ad f
or
th e
h itsin g le
‘W h atHave
IDo n e T o
Deserve T h is’
w ith Dusty
Sprin g f
ield
Lo w e
an d
T en n an ti
n
a pro m o pic
f
ro m 1 987
T h e d uo
po se f
or
th e cam era
i
n 1 995
: Bobby O Orl
ando,w ho saw
: som ething in their dem os andended
: u p produ cing 11 tracks.
: Apartfrom m ak ing brief
: rippl
es on the US cl
u b scene,l
ittl
e
: happenedto the su bseq u entrel
ease
: of‘W estEndG irl
s’ on Orl
ando’s
: B obcatl
abelor reissu es on C BS and
: Epic. Itw asn’tu ntilthey parted
: com pany w ith Orl
ando and hired
■ British m anager Tom W atkinsto
: oversee their career thattheir
: prospects began to
•im prove,asa deal
w ith P arl
ophone w as
inked in 198 5. Yet
even then they saw
‘Opportu nities (Let’s
Make Lots OfMoney)’
fl
op before a rem ix of
‘W estEndG irl
s’ final
l
y
cl
inchedthe du o their firstNo 1.
D u ring thatperiodthey hadbeen
w riting continu al
l
y,andthey carried
on after thatbreak throu gh hitand
the rel
ease ofthe Pl
ease LP - hel
ped
by the cancel
l
ation ofa proposed
tou r w hich l
eftthem w ith w as
nothing better to do than retu rn to
the stu dio andfocu s on songw riting.
: One advantage the pair al
so
hadfrom the startw asthe sel
f
confidence and bl
oody m indedness
to stay tru e to them sel
ves,rather
than accede to the dem ands oftheir
l
abeland m anagem ent. ‘W e w ere
al
w ays u nder pressu re atthe start,
from EMIandTom ,to be m ore...
nice’,Tennanttol
d C hris Heath in his
book Li
teral
l
y. ‘W e del
iberatel
y took
care to be the opposite.’
‘P eopl
e have gotto l
ike itor l
um p
it,real
l
y’,saidLow e. ‘Ifw e w ere to
contrive l
ook ing [
l
ike]happy,good
l
ook ing pop stars,itw ou l
dn’tw ork .’
By the tim e the P etShop Boys
m adeActual
l
y, they’dprovedto be
su ccessfu lon their
ow n term s via hits
l
ike the re-rel
eased
‘Opportu nities’ and
‘S u bu rbia’,el
egantyet
fu n-l
oving pop w ith
a pronou nced British
accentanda strong
streak ofdry hu m ou r.
Therefore,they pretty m u ch had
their ow n bl
ank canvas on w hich
to paintthis second l
ong-form
statem entto the w orl
d.
‘Theduo met
inahi
-fishop
onLondon’s
K ing’sR d’
OVER T HE T OP
The firstsingl
e from the al
bu m
w ou l
d be the bol
dest,broadestsl
ice
ofdance pop they’dyetcom e u p
w ith,and itstil
lsou ndshuge com ing
ou tofyou r speakers today.
‘It’sA Sin’ w astail
or-m ade that
w ay,as NeilTennantrecal
l
edon the
sl
eevenotes ofthe 20 0 1 reissu e.G*
DECEM BER 2023
w w w .h ifin ew s.co .uk
83
(O CHORD O
Chord Electron ics Ltd.
PRICES LOW ERED
W e've l
ow ered prices on five aw ard-w inning devices,incl
u ding
the 20 23W hatHi
-Fi
? ‘BestD AC (s)’ Moj
o 2 and Q u test.
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ess.
Ch o rd electro n ics.co .uk
VIN Y L ICON S
P RODU CT ION NOT ES
The al
bu m cam e together du ring
initialsessions in London stu dios
Advision andSarm W est. Low e tol
d
ofhow they w ere affordedtim e to
experim entor ‘faffa lot’.The boys
cal
l
edon variou s stu dio m aestros
incl
u ding Pl
ease produ cer Stephen
Hagu e,bu tthe bu l
k ofthe al
bu m
w as overseen by Ju l
ian Mendel
sohn,
w ho hadfirstappearedon the band’s
radar w hen he produ ceda rem ixed
version ofearl
y singl
e ‘S u bu rbia’.
Hetol
d Cl
assi
cPop m agaz ine in
20 17 how he andTennantdid‘a l
ot
ofthe hands-on w ork ’,w hil
e Low e,
ever the m an offew w ords,l
istened
andoccasional
l
y m ade asu ggestion.
‘He’dgetu p,he’dhave a keyboard
andhe’dfiddl
e abou tfor a cou pl
e of
m inu tes... then he’dgo back to the
cou ch.Anditw as al
w ays aw inner.’
Andw hil
e Mendel
sohn hadto
insiston Tennantdoing m ore takes
to im prove vocal
sthe singer w as
al
ready happy w ith,the recording
ofD u sty S pringfiel
d’scontribu tion
w asthe opposite.The granddam e
w asvery particu l
ar abou thow she
w anted her vocalto sou nd,andshe
insistedon recording tak e after tak e
before she w as happy w ith them .
Itw as du ring the m aking ofa
video for ‘W hatHave ID one To
D eserve This’ thatthe cl
assic cover
photo w astak en.The shotofthe
du o,in dinner j
ackets anddickie
bow s,w ith Tennantcau ghtin an
‘W e decidedto m ak e the w hol
e
record gargantu anl
y C athol
ic and
over-the-top. W e w entto B rom pton
Oratory w ith Ju l
ian M endel
sohn and
recorded the am bience. You can
hear itin the back grou nd ofthe
< father forgive m e...= section.’
They al
so threw in su ch tou ches
as athu ndercl
ap and a NASA
cou ntdow n. Assu ch,the song had
com e a fair w ay from
the one thatbegan
l
ife in Ray Roberts’
C am den stu dio,w hen
Low e cam e u p w ith
thatdescending chord
seq u ence andTennant
began pl
aying arou nd
w ith the titu lar phrase.
‘Itw as original
l
y very Eu ro and
hada differenttu ne,very French
sou nding’,the singer said. Later,an
incarnation by B obby O didn’tpass
m u ster,andw hen the track w as
nom inated for produ ction by S tock
Aitk en W aterm an for Pl
ease, P ete
W aterm an decided he w asn’ta fan.
Another key track on the al
bu m
featu res the P etShop Boys’ first
gu estvocal
ist- one ofthe great
B ritish sou lvoices. And once again,
itw as a song thathad been in
devel
opm entsince before their
debu tal
bu m . ‘W hatHave ID one To
D eserve This’ w as al
w ays conceived
as a du et,bu tafter the song w as
dem o’dw ith Am erican session
singer Al
l
ee W il
l
is atthe end of
198 4 (w ho al
so w rote the ‘since
you w entaw ay...’ passage ofthe
song),the grou p’sim agination
w as fired u p w hen Tom W atson’s
assistantN ik k e S l
ightsu ggested
•they try D u sty S pringfiel
d - w hose
: DustyIn M em p hi
s al
bu m isam ong
•
l
-tim e favou rites.
* Tennant’sal
: CA REER REVIVA L
: She said ‘no’ to the then-u nk now n
• B ritish du o,and after su ggestions by
: their record com pany thatincl
u ded
:
* Tina Tu rner and B arbra S treisand
: w ere rej
ected by the band,the
song didn’tm ak e it
onto Pl
ease. Happil
y,
thou gh,S pringfiel
d
l
ater heard ‘W estEnd
G irl
s’ on the radio and
l
ik ed it. Rem em bering
the earl
ier approach
from the P etShop
Boysto du eton
j ‘W hatHave ID one...’,she asked her
: m anagem entto getback in tou ch.
Here it’sw or th
*
: rem em bering that
:
i
n in the m id-198 0 s
: S pringfiel
d w as
:
<
■ far from the revered
: nam e in the B ritish
t
• pop pantheon she is
GET T IN G DU ST Y IN HERE
:
'
I now ,and her career w as
tering to say the l
east.
M endel
sohn’sprodu ction final
l
y did : fal
the song j
u stice. ‘Iw as l
istening to
: ‘W hen w e actu al
l
y m etD u sty,
: she w as l
iving in a pay-by-day
al
otofZZ Top’,he told Cl
assi
cPop
m agaz ine in 20 17. ‘So Isortofsent ■
: Hol
l
yw ood m otel’,Tennant
itin thatdirection a l
ittl
e bit- the
: told Cl
assi
cPop . ‘She w as
insistentheaviness ofit.’
: real
l
y atrock bottom .’ G»
‘Springfield
heard “W est
E ndGirls”
and likedit’
al
m ighty yaw n,w astaken by C indy
P al
m ano,anditw as abou tto be
u sedfor the cover ofTennant’sal
m a
m ater Sm ash Hi
ts before the band
req u ested,the day before itw as du e
to go to press,thatitbe hel
dback
for the Actual
l
yal
bu m .
‘Itw as sortofu ncom prom ising
andfu nny atthe sam e tim e’,Neil
Tennantl
ater noted. A l
otl
ike the
m en itdepicted,in fact.
DECEMBER 2023
a 1 991
sh o o tby
ph o to g raph er
Eric W atso n
used o n th e
in n ersleeves
o fth e ban d ’s
2LP album
Discogr ap hy
T en n an t
an d
Lo w e po se
w ith Dusty
Sprin g f
ield
in a pro m o
sh o tf
o rth e
1 98 9 m o vie
Scand al
T he
exterio r
o fSarm W est
stud io s i
n
W estLo n d o n
Lo w e
an d
T en n an ti
n
1 98 7 , th e
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n w h ich
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Rsoun d
E D IT O R S '
C H O IC E
AW AIOS
ORIG INAL RELEASE (1 98 7 )
incl
u des 14 dem os,rem ixes
The vinylpressing ofActual
l
y
[
P C SD 10 4)thatdid m ostofthe
andpreviou sl
y u nrel
eased
songs from those sessions.
u nit-shifting w hen the al
bu m
w as firstrel
eased (C D had a
Som e l
isteners have griped
thatthe rem astering by
M etropol
is su ffersfrom the
w ay to go before itw ou l
dtak e
ack ofsu btl
ety associated
over asthe dom inantform at,of l
cou rse} isgeneral
l
y hel
d in high
w ith the 'Lou dness W ars’ era
regard by fans.And given the
sheer nu m bers in w hich itsol
d
back then,it's nothardto find
in w hich item erged. These
<w ars'saw engineers appl
ying
greater com pression and gain
a copy in near m intcondition.
Low e andTennantin 1999,the year they rel
eased their al
bu m
Nightlife and (bel
ow )in a shotpr om oting Introsp ective from 198 8
Yetthe pair w ere thr illed to have
one oftheir m u sicalheroes singing
on their record,andw hen itbecam e
the second singl
e from the Actual
l
y
al
bu m to hitthe charts,ithel
ped
revive D u sty S pringfiel
d’scareer.
its firstgo arou ndthe P etShop Boys’
songw riting fair,having original
l
y
been penned as a Hi-NRG disco
nu m ber. Andy Richards,the grou p’s
k eyboard program m er and engineer,
hadthe idea ofsl
ow ing itdow n.
w ith captivating resu l
ts.
HEA RT BEA T
W hil
e Tennantand Low e are
Thattrack ’sbl
end ofsu ng-spoken,.
■ often regarded asarch-ironists,
Engl
ish-accented narrative and
■ they dealin em otionalresonance
m el
odical
l
y enhanced dance
: as su ccessfu l
l
y as any greatpop
pop is cl
assic P etShop Boys. It’s
: songw riters,and ‘Heart’ w ou l
d
a com bination fou nd el
sew here
» give them Actual
l
y’ssecond N o 1
on this al
bu m ,notl
easton the
: singl
e w hen itfol
l
ow ed non-al
bu m
opening track 'One
cover ‘Al
w ays On My
M ind’ to the top 40
M ore C hance’ and its
evocation ofa l
onel
y
su m m itin eariy ’8 8 .
u rban l
andscape
W ritten - you
w here ‘strangers in
gu essed it- a cou pl
e
overcoats hu rry on
ofyears previou sl
y,
hom e’ ;the chal
k -dry
‘Heart’ isone oftheir
el
ectro tak edow n of
m ore conventional
consu m er cu l
tu re on
pop m om ents,a
: song su fficientl
y u n-P etS hoppy
‘S hopping’;andthe fau x-hau ghty
: for them to consider offering itto
m eta-pop of'HitM u sic’.
•fem al
e singers incl
u ding Haz elD ean
There’ ssom ething u ndeniabl
y
■ and M adonna. B u tthey eventu al
l
y
w arm er abou tthe other tw o hit
tim ate
singl
es this al
bu m spaw ned,thou gh, : decided on itasthe penu l
: track on Actual
l
y, and it’sanother
even w hen ‘Rent’ creates a sense
* su bl
im e highl
ight.
ofm el
anchol
y-l
aced rom antic
*
devotion in ayearning torch song
paean.And once again,this w asn't :EN D OF T HE LIN E
: The al
bu m cl
oses w ith one ofthe
■ greatP S8 deep cu ts. ‘Kings C ross'
: - afaintly dream l
ik e ode to those
: refu gees from the provinces w ho
: w ander arou ndthe titu lai London
: transporthu b in search ofsol
ace - is
: athou ghtfu l,atm ospheric ending
•to one ofthe greatB ritish pop l
ong
: pl
ayers,and acts as a snapshotof
•w hatTennanthas since described as
: the band's ‘im perialphase’ .
:
Histongu e w as in his cheek as
: he saidthat,no dou bt,bu tthat’s
[the P etShop Boys;a bandw ho have
: al
w ays m anagedto tak e the m ick,
■ sl
ightl
y,w hil
e al
so being im possibl
e
■ notto l
ove,actu al
l
y. 0
A col
l
ector's item w ou l
d be
the Japanese rel
ease [
RP 28 550 7],becau se ithasthe
originalTV show version of
‘
Al
w ays On My M ind'throw n
in asthe A-side ofa bonu s 7in,
w ith a du b version of‘Heart’
on the B-side. For a l
ong tim e
itw as ab ona fide P etShop
Boys rarity u ntilitw as incl
u ded
on Actual
l
y/ Furtherl
i
steni
ng
to recordings,bu tthis rel
ease
79 8 7-8 8 [
see entry bel
ow ],and
com pl
etists cou l
dstil
lpick one
sou nds pretty tidy to these ears.
u p for arou nd £15.
CD REMAST ER (201 8 )
Ihe al
bu m appeared again
on C D in 20 18 [
P arl
ophone
0 190 2958 26222],this tim e
u sing a new rem aster by Tim
You ng,al
so ofM etropol
is,
w hich w as prim aril
y m ade for
the 18 0 g vinylreissu e [
see
'<H ear
t
=i
sone
of t
he
i
rmor
e
c
onve
nt
i
onal
popmome
nt
s
'
entry bel
ow ]. It’sw idel
y view ed
asthe bestrepresentation
ofthe al
bu m yetheard,and
in these cu riou sl
y C D -phobic
tim es you can pick a copy u p
ORIG INAL CD (1 98 7 )
for little m ore than atenner.
M astered by Sonopress and
issu ed in athen-standard
j
ew elcase w ith an eightpage book l
et,this UK version
[
C D P C SD 10 4,pictu red above]
AU DIOP HILE VINYL (201 8 )
isdeem edto have sl
ightl
y
stronger bassthan its Am erican
handsom e edition ofActual
l
y
boasts a ‘brand-new 20 18
eq u ival
ent[
C D P 7 46972 2],
rem aster ofthe originalal
bu m ’.
Again itw as by M etropol
is,
w ith a m arginal
l
y w arm er
sou ndthank s to stronger
m idrange. Bu tin any case,C D
bu yers m ay w ish to u pgrade to
the expanded edition.
Reissu edin the US andEu rope
on 18 0 g vinyl[
P ariophone
0 190 2958 32612]this
w hose overhau lofthe sou nd
on the 20 0 1 C D didn'thit
the spotfor everyone,bu tit
received a resou nding thu m bs
u p from P SB fans,for w hom it
DELU X E REISSU E (2001 )
The al
bu m w as given a l
avish
hadnever sou nded so bright
andcl
ear on the bigger form at.
repack aging [
P arl
ophone 7243
5 30 50 6 2 7]as partofthe
grou p’sFurtherLi
steni
ng series
ofreissu esw ith a second disc
ofbonu s m aterialand extensive
interview s w ith Tennantand
Low e on the sl
eeve notes from w hich w e have q u oted in
this articl
e,in fact.Actual
l
y/
FurtherLi
steni
ng 1 9 8 7-8 8 al
so
DECEMBER 2023
W W W .h if
in ew 5.C0.uk
87
InsidetheSt
udio
B E H IN D T H E M U S IC W IT H H I-FI N EW S & R E C O R D R E V IE W
H ookE ndSt
udio
It was an historic house with a rock ’n’ roll heritage, its elegant oak panels reverberating
with the sounds of Morrissey, Pink Floyd and The Cure. Steve Sutherland has the story...
hat is it w ith Jacks? Of
View
allthe folks in allthe
w orld, the J-m en seem
into the
con trol room
m ore p rone than m ost
to behaviour befitting the scal
ag End
atlyw
H ook
w ith its SSL
and scoundrel.W as it Brian The
Rip p er? Nop e, it w as Jack.W hen the
(Solid State
Logic) d esk
gals in Ray Charles’chorus w anted
and (inset)
that ne-er do-w ell m an out oftheir
the M anor
hair, guess w ho it w as they told to
H ou se in
hit the road? Yup ,Jack.W hen The
201 0
Rolling Stones canned the dop ey
p sychedelia and got their funk back
Alvin
on,w ho w as it led them on a m erry
Lee
dance back to the dark side? Jum p in
on stage in
Jim ? Jum p in’Jerem y? Nop e, it w as
Jum p in’Jack w ho had the Flash.
1 975 and
w ith M ylon
Anyw ay,w hy I’m dw elling on
allthis Jack sh... stuff is because
Rae LeFevre
a Jack p lays a p art in the story of
(left) on the
H ook End, w hich is the studio w e’re
sleeve of O n
The Road To
here to talk about. But first here’s
Freedom
som e history...You’llfind H ook End
W
T
M anor near G allow stree Com m on,
just south of Checkendon in rural
South O xfordshire. It w as built in
1 58 0 for the Bishop of Reading
and subsequently som ew hat
hap hazardly added to dow n the
centuries. It boasts an oak-p anelled
dining room that conceivably dates
from the 1 9 20s, a snooker room and
betw een 1 1 and 1 4 bedroom s as
no-one seem s quite sure.
A LVIN ’S A CRES
In living m em ory the house w as
ow ned by financier Charles G ore
and then Alvin Lee,the sup erfast
lead guitarist w ith Ten Years After
w ho briefly reigned sup rem e as
blues blustered its transform ation
into heavy rock. H ow H ook End
cam e to be Lee’s is best left for
the m an him selfto exp lain: ‘It’s a
big rock star’s house that Ibought
as a joke... Iw ent to see it and it
K EY RECORDIN G T IM ELIN E
TE
88
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19 7 3
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vi
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hGeorge
H arrisont
orecordtheex-Beatle's
'SoSad (NoLoveO fH isO wn)’
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
D ECEM BER 2023
19 8 3
P inkFloyd’sTheFinalC uti
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fi
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hR ogerW aters
19 8 8
DeepP urple'sNobody’
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hal
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vejam recordedat
H ookE ndM anorinFebruary 19 88
w as about a quarter of
a m illion quid and Isaid
Icould never live in a
p lace like that, it’s so
ostentatious and horrible.
And then, by circum stance,
Icam e into som e m oney
about a m onth later and
m y accountant said, “W ell,you’ve
gotta sp end it or you’llhave to
p ay tax
f***ing house w ith acres and acres
and fields and stables and barns
and m ilking sheds and Ithought
“F***ing hell Ihad tw o full-tim e
gardeners, a live-in housekeep er
and m aintenance m en... It cost m e
five hundred quid a w eek to keep
running even w hen Iw asn’t there’.
T HA M ES VA LLEY G A N G
W hen he w as there Lee m ade use
ofthose m ilking sheds, converting
them into Sp ace Studios w hich he
used to record his album On T he
Road T o Freedom in 1 9 7 3. It w as
a collaboration w ith M ylon Rae
LeFevre, an Am erican Christian
singer,w hich Lee described as ‘Just
an LP recorded at hom e w ith som e
neighbours’.Those neighbours
just hap p ened to include G eorge
H arrison, Ron W ood, M ick Jagger
and M ick Fleetw ood. Oh, and Steve
W inw ood, Jim Cap aldi and Rebop
Kw aku Baah ofTraffic, ace session
keyboard p layer Tim H inkley, and
Boz Burrell,w ho p layed bass w ith
Bad Com p any.This p osse becam e
know n as The Tham es V alley G ang.
Lee sold H ook End to Dave
G ilm our of Pink Floyd in 1 9 8 0.
G ilm our up graded the studio,
refurbished p arts ofthe house and
began w ork on the band’s 1 2th
LP,T he FinalCut. Things did not
go w ell.The onset ofthe Falklands
w ar convinced the Floyd’s m ain
songw riter Roger W aters that the
album should reflect his disgust.
'T he FinalCut w as about how ,
w ith the introduction ofthe W elfare
State,w e felt w e w ere m oving
forw ard into som ething resem bling
a liberal country w here w e w ould
all look after one another’,he said.
‘But I’d seen allthat chiselled aw ay,
and I’d seen a return to an alm ost
D ickensian society under M argaret
The
Cu re9s
D isintegration
w as record ed
atH ook End
in late 1 988.
LolTolhu rst
w as sacked
on ce the
m ixing b egan
Thom p son ,
Rob ertSm ith,
Sim on G allu p ,
Boris W illiam s
and Lol
Tolhu rst
In 1 993
Steve
Lillyw hite
p rod u ced
M orrissey9s
VauxhallA nd I
atH ook End
D u rin g
1 990
and early 991
M orrissey
u sed the
stu d io to
record Kill
U ncle
X
O
C
L
U
A
P
Thatcher. Ifelt that the British
governm ent should have p ursued
dip lom atic avenues, rather than
steam ing in the m om ent that task
force arrived in the South Atlantic.’
G ilm our w as unhap p y w ith all
the p oliticising and didn’t think the
songs w ere up to scratch. Cue a
bunch of argum ents that saw the
tw o w ork sep arately, refusing to see
eye-to-eye. G ilm our’s nam e
w as erased from the
p roduction credits
and W aters said
T he FinalCut w as
‘absolute m isery
to m ake’.M elody
M aker called
it ‘a m ilestone in the history of
aw fulness’and W aters never w orked
w ith the Floyd again. M eanw hile,
the band’s inflatable p ig, used to
p rom ote theirA nim als album , w as
stored in one of the outbuildings.
OU T SIDE BET
In 1 9 8 7 G ilm our sold H ook End
on to W est Side Productions,the
com p any nam e adop ted
by p roduction p artners
VX
Clive Langer and Alan
W instanley.They
rechristened it
O utside and one
I oftheir first m ajor
clients w ere The G»
1 980
D ave G ilm ou r
(left) b ou ght
the p rem ises,
u sin g them
to record
The FinalCut
(inset) and
fallin g ou t
w ith Roger
W aters (right)
in the p rocess
19 9 4
M orrisseybookstimei
nthesummer
of19 9 3 t
omakeVaux hal
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Top 10 hi
tafterspendingmid-t
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20 0 5 recordingthealbum Simpatico
D ECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifin ew s.co.u k
89
P H IllA
st
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APPLAU SE
UM AM I
BLUE
New f
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er enq u ires w el
com e
M Series
r*
Cure w ho recorded their eighth
LP,D isintegration,there betw een
Novem ber 1 9 8 8 and February
’8 9 .Again,this w as not a hap p y
session. Robert Sm ith w as turning
30, having a crisis and, by his ow n
adm ission, necking lots of LSD. H e
w ithdrew from the group , w riting
on his ow n and ignoring the others,
one of w hom ,founder m em ber and
drum m er LolTolhurst,w as deep in
the throes of a serious p roblem w ith
alcohol. W hen the record cam e to
m ixing, Tolhurst w as fired.
T O T HE M A N OR BORN
Another H ook End client w as
M orrissey w ho recorded his
K illU ncle LP there during late
1 9 9 0/early’9 1 w ith Langer and
W instanley p roducing. ‘H e w as the
only p erson w ho could really afford
it’,says Langer. ‘H e fired us on the
m orning ofthe first session but I
took him dow n the p ub for a w hile
and w hen w e got back,Alan and the
band had recorded a
great backing track, so
he reinstated us.’
M oz returned to
H ook End tw o years
later to do his album
VauxhallA nd I,this
tim e w ith p roducer
Steve Lillyw hite in
tow . O thers w ho m ade use ofthe
facilities w ere M arillion for Season’s
E nd and H oliday s In E den (’8 9 and
’9 1 , resp ectively), M anic Street
Preachers for Cold A gainst T he Soul
(1 9 9 3) and Aztec Cam era, w ho
Rod d y
Fram e,
sin ger w ith
A ztec Cam era,
w ho u sed
H ook End to
record the
b an d 9s fifth
stu d io alb u m
D ream land
recorded D ream land w ith Jap anese
com p oser Ryuichi Sakam oto, w hich
w as also released in 1 9 9 3.
In the m id-’9 0s H ook End w as
sold to Trevor H orn, he of Buggies,
Yes,ABC and Frankie G oes To
H ollyw ood fam e. ‘I’m p robably
biased but Ithink it’s
definitely the best
residential recording
studio in the w orld...
he declared at the
tim e. ‘It’s really the
lay-out,the size of
the control room ,
how it feels to w ork
in it... It’s really large but it feels
quite sm all. It m eans p eop le can
sleep in the corners w hile you’re
w orking and they w on’t disturb you.
They can be here,they can even
talk, and it w on’t bother you.’
'M orrissey
firedusonthe
morningofthe
fi
rstsession’
Lab el of
Sid e 1
of M arillion9s
Seasons E nd,
the grou p 9s
firstalb u m
follow in g the
d ep artu re of
vocalistFish,
and the b and
*
■
*
*
Ap p arently, H orn w as equally
taken w ith the house and p lanned
to m ake it his fam ily hom e until
tragedy struck. On the 25th ofJune
2006 , his son Aaron w as p ractising
w ith an air rifle, not realising his
m other JillSinclair w as close by.A
p ellet from the gun accidentally
hit Sinclair in the neck, severing an
artery and causing irreversible brain
dam age from hyp oxia leaving only
her low er brain functions and no
chance for recovery. She rem ained
in a com a for eight years until she
died of cancer, aged 6 1 .
H orn sold up H ook End in 2007
and the p rop erty fell into the hands
of a businessm an called M ark W hite
w ho set up a p roduction com p any
to m anage the studio, boasting ‘a
live room ,three isolation booths,
a control room and a sep arate
m achine room w ith an H D 5
exp anded Pro Tools system w ith
the cap ability of 1 1 2 inp uts and
outp uts’.The gear list also boasted
a second Pro Tools H D3 system w ith
56 inp uts and outp uts w hile inside
the control room could be found an
8 0-channel SSL9 000 console.
M ark Kelly,
Ian M osley,
Steve H ogarth
(vocals and
keys),Steven
Rothery and
Pete Trew avas :EERIE EX PLORA T ION
: The studio w as refurbished but it
Jam es
: seem s little w as done to the house
D ean
■ to the extent that a decade later
Brad field ,
: it becam e of interest to a bunch
lead vocalist : of Internet adventurers behind the
w ith The
: Abandoned And D erelict Britain
M anic Street : w ebsite. They visited the p rop erty
Preachers,
: and nosed around, sp ooked to find
on stage in
: gam es of Scrabble and p ool left as
Chicago in
• if half-finished,w allp ap er falling off
1 992
: the w alls, and the dining room table
• set for a banquet for ten.
And here, at last, is w here our
Trevor :
: Jack com es in. In the basem ent,
H orn
: stacked against a w all,the w eb
cau ghton
• exp lorers found the gravestone of
cam era in
: a young boy called ‘Little Jack’.It
1 984 . He
• w as dated Ap ril 1 9 09 and carried
b ou ghtthe
: the inscrip tion: ‘Thy love to m e
stu d io in the
m id -990s,
■ w as w onderful’.Freaked out,the
renam in g its
: interlop ers fled.As for H ook End, it
record in g
■ doesn’t ap p ear to be in use at the
• m om ent.The only source of contact
facilities Sarm
• w e can find is an unofficial Facebook
H ook End
: p age, w hich stands em p ty.0
DECEM BER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
91
ALBUM
REVI EW S
AUDIOPHILE:VINYL
5T E H E O
CROO61 3
FRIDAY
ALBERT
K IN G
BORN
UND ERA
BAD SIGN
ALBERT KI
NG
Bor
n U n derABad Si
gn
Craft/Stax CR00513 (180g vi
nyl
)
An y san e listo fth e best-everblues album s w ill
in clud e th is m asterpiece f
ro m 1 967 in its T o p
1 0.It’sbeen reissued m an y tim es because it
d eserves th e respectaf
f
o rd ed M ud d y W aters’
L FolkSinger .Ih ave perso n alreaso n s f
or
k ad o rin g th is - itw as playin g w h en Ilo st
B m y in n o cen ce an d th e title becam e m y
H m an tra - buta n um bero fo th ervirtues
H m ake ita stan d -o utin th e g en re.Like
I an o th erK in g (B.B),Alberth ad a w ay w ith
■ stan d ard s an d yo u’l
lsw o o n ath is take o f
■ ’T h e Very T h o ug h tOfYo u’.T h is also h as a
F so ulvibe th an ks to reco rd in g m ain ly atStax
Stud io s w ith Bo o kerT & T h e M G ’san d th e
M em ph is Ho rn s.Itjustm ay be th e best-ever
in tro d uctio n to th e blues.KK
SoundQ u al
i
t
y:90%
C.
A.QU I
NT ET
DONNYHATHAWAY
RANDYTRAVI
S
Tr
i
pThr
uHel
l
Ever
yt
hi
ng I
sEver
yt
hi
ng
St
or
msOfLi
f
e
Sundazed LP5631(red vi
nyl
)
Sp eakersCorner/Atco SD 33-332 (180g vi
nyl
)
M ob i
l
e Fi
del
i
tyM FSV1-511
I’m u nsu re w hether to fil
e this u nder ‘P rogrock ’ or ‘P sychedel
ic’,bu titw illcharm fans
ofeither: it’sa l
ong-l
ostgem from 1967/8
and itm anages to tick both boxes by
em pl
oying the better el
em ents ofboth. I
n
other w ords,it’snota typical
l
y psychedel
ic
m ess ofm erel
y fool
ing arou ndfor effect
and cal
l
ing it‘groovy’.Thatsaid,prog-w ise,
it’sa conceptal
bu m ofsorts,the redvinyl
signifying the fires ofthe destination in
the title. Ifyou ’ re expecting anything even
rem otel
y sim il
ar to AC /D C ’stravel
ogu e to
thatl
ocal
e,l
ook el
sew here for this is m ore
cerebral
,andthank s to som e organ and
brass,a bitofa find on sonic grou nds.
And Il
istenedto itsober. K K
One ofsou lm u sic’sgreatestl
osses and
tragedies,singer/pianistHathaw ay-w ho
com m itted su icide atthe age of33- l
eft
u s onl
y fou r stu dio al
bu m s,a sou ndtrack
and a handfu lofposthu m ou s in-concert
rel
eases. Asthis debu tfrom 1970 issu ch
an astou nding rel
ease,one w onders w here
his career m ighthave tak en him . Becau se
itarrived du ring the fl
u x years w hen sou l
w as heading tow ard disco,LasVegas gl
oss
and other u ptow n infl
u ences,itisstrik ing
for its bl
u esy feel
,nota littl
e gospelinpu t
and a deep j
az z sensibil
ity. Every track is
m em orabl
e,bu t‘Thank You M aster’ isan
epic,w hil
e ‘The G hetto’ ranks rightu p there
w ith C u rtis M ayfiel
d. Ju stbu y it. K K
Travis’s 198 6 debu tLP introdu ced u sto
one ofthe finest,m ostsedu ctive voices in
the history ofcou ntry m u sic. Even then he
sou nded a bitofa throw back to a gentl
er
tim e,Travis ow ing m ore to Lefty Friz z el
l
,
G eorge Jones and- no su rprise here - Hank
W il
l
iam s,asthis appeared ata pointin the
genre’shistory w hen rock m u sic andfl
ash
hel
d greater sw ay. Travis’sl
u sh baritone
w illbenefitfrom a system w ith a peerl
ess
m idband,m y LS3
/5As im pressing w ith the
richness ofhis vocal
s. This sol
d in excess
offou r m il
l
ion copies,the MoFiversion
dem onstrating thatcou ntry m u sic can
transcendthe sonic bou ndaries of8 -track
cartridges in the cab ofa Ford F-150 . K K
SoundQ u al
i
t
y:85%
SoundQ u al
i
t
y:90%
SoundQ u al
i
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100
92
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
DECEM BER 2023
100
D ctn w
T RONDHEI
M SOBAROQU EENSEMBLE THEFRATERNALORDEROFTHEALL
A o cO rO *
VARI
OU SART I
ST S
TheTr
on dhei
mCon cer
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os
Gr
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omPl
an etLove
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ophi
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I
/VI
I
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2L 2L-172-SABD (B l
u-ray+ SACD)
E soteri
cRecordi
ngsE CLE C2758
O ctave RecordsO CT0037/O CT0038 (dow nl
oads to DSD256 res.)
IfJ.G eil
s,bel
ow ,inspiredyou to sam pl
e
su rrou nd bu tyou prefer the u npl
u gged,
this recording in a chu rch ofa nine-piece
ensem bl
e offers su ch a rem ark abl
e sense of
space thatyou ’ l
lbe rendered agoraphobic.
As is 2Lpractice,the SAC D offers stereo
and 5.1 D SD and P C M MQ A C D ,w hil
e the
Bl
u -ray provides seven options u p to 7.1.4
Au ro-3D at96k Hz . Andthe m u sic? The
Trondheim C oncertos refer to 18 th/19th
centu ry m anu scripts preserved in the city,
spirited and l
u sh-sou nding perform ances
ofcom positions from Johan Henrich B erl
in
andJoseph Meek,the anonym ou s ‘Sigr
Opferm and’ V iol
in C oncerto,andV ival
di’s
V iol
in C oncerto in A.K K
Andrew G ol
d- yes,the l
ate singer
songw riter w ho gave u sthe Col
den Gi
rl
s
them e ‘Thank You For B eing A Friend’ paid hom age to the greats ofthe 1960 s
w ith this proj
ectfrom 1997,and it’san
absol
u te k nock -ou t. Ifyou ’ re ol
d enou gh to
rem em ber thatdecade,you w illbe daz z l
ed
by note-perfectpastiches ofThe D oors,
The Beach Boys,The B eatl
es,The Byrds and
others. Fu rther au thenticity isadded by the
presence ofG raham G ou l
dm an,w ho w as
there w riting for the l
ikes ofThe Hol
l
ies
andThe Yardbirds. G ol
d’sear for nu ance
is peerl
ess so this w illdel
ightthose w ho
dreadthe inevitabl
e onsl
au ghtofm u sical
fak es via Al
.K K
W asting no tim e,Octave has rel
easedtw o
m ore SAC D s recorded in pu re D SD in this
series,perfectassam pl
ers for the l
abeland
a w ise w ay oftry-before-you -bu y assessm ent
ofits roster. V ol
u m eV l
l
’sten track s incl
u de
Thom LaFond’sadventu re into seeing
m u sic ascol
ou rs in ‘S ynthesia’,B onnie Sim s’
cou ntry tu ne ‘Lorena’,and m ore. V ol
um e
VIIIprovides cl
assicaland m odern track s:
The Magee S tring Q u artet,Al
icia S trak a’s
accordion com position ‘M u sette S ou er’,
Ru ssian soprano Ek aterina Kotchergu ina
w ith ‘Three Earl
y Songs’ and others. Ideal
for assessing depth and sou ndstage,these
are fine adj
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O fHi
-Fidiscs. K K
SoundQ u al
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SoundQ u al
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y:85%
SoundQ u al
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100
J.GEI
LSBAND
Ni
ght
mar
es.
.
.
An d Ot
herTal
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omTheVi
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100
100
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Q uadi
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anti
c B A2-18107 (B l
u-rayaudi
o)
W h ile n o tth e f
irstm ultich an n eld isc to co n tain
true q uad raph o n ic m ixes,th is release i
so n e
o fa d ebutq uarteto ftitles f
ro m Atlan tic’s
n ew Q uad io labelresto rin g th e o rig in alf
o urch an n el(4.0)array.U n like rem asterin g in to 5.1 ,
th ey’re truerto th e in ten d ed surro un d so un d
experien ce.T h ere w as so m uch cen tre f
illth at
Ih ad to putm y earto th e m id d le speakerto
m ake sure I’d setup m y pro cesso rco rrectly.
Asid e f
ro m w h eth ero rn o tto use bass
m an ag em en t, playback i
s auto m atic th ro ug h
an y m ultich an n elsystem .Asf
o rth e m usic, h ey,
th is i
sth e crim in ally n eg lected J.G eils Ban d ,
R8i
B o fth e f
in estso rt.Even sans subw o o f
er, it’s
m assive an d ro o m -f
illin g .T h e ef
f
ects in th e title
track w illsim ple d azzle yo u.KK
SoundQ u al
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0
...........................................100
D ECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
93
A LBU M
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alb u m also review ed this m on th: this
is how you d o it! This 96kH z/24 -b it
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ECM d eb u tb y Chick Corea firstsaw
the lightof d ay,an d is also sou rced
from the origin al an alogu e tap es,
PM 9s lab n otes b elow givin g an
overview of the p rocess in volved . It
w as w orth all the effortas Corea9s
p ian o,D ave H ollan d 9s p ow erfu l b ass
Follow ing our Investigation feature
[HFN Jun ’1 1 ]w here w e exam ined the
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H i-FiN ew s &Record Review continues
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94
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
DECEM BER 2023
an d Barry A ltschu l9s m eticu lou s b u t
p u n chy d ru m m in g really b u rstou tof
this set,w hich origin ated b ack in 1 971
in the Ton stu d io Bau er,Lu d w igsb u rg,
G erm any. Both Corea an d H ollan d
con trib u te tu n es,there9s thou ghtfu l
im p rovisation ,an d the trio9s version of
W ayn e Shorter9s 8N efertiti9is a tight,
crisp stan d ou t,w ith every elem en t
of the trio crystal clear. This is on e
gloriou s-sou n d in g alb u m .A E
Full disclosure: Im ust adm it to m ore of an
affinity w ith the w ork ofAustralian jazz
trio Trichotom y than is usualw ith m uch
ofthe m usic m aking its w ay into these
p ages. In recent years I’ve exp erienced
the band p laying live a handful of tim es in
the U K in different venues, including the
salubrious surroundings of a Surrey golf
club, hom e to the excellent W aterm ill
Jazz. H aving listened to the three - Sean
Foran on p iano, Sam uelV incent on bass
and drum m er John Parker - it’s easy to
ap p reciate the m usicianship cap tured on
this latest release, allthree being classically
trained. That solid foundation and effortless
interp lay is m uch in evidence here, in a set
that p ushes the lim its of w hat just three
m usicians can deliver,from easy-going
jazz to m ore avant-garde styles and even
elem ents of p rog rock.And it sounds every
bit as good as it is entertaining.A E
SoundQ ual
i
t
y: 90%
SoundQ ual
i
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. . .
-II-
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The original analogue tap es have been
m eticulously restored after 50 years
using a Studer A8 20 and Prism Sound,
M ytek and Antelop e AD Cs.The 9 6 kH z
sam p ling is generous but dynam ic range
beats m any m odern digital releases. PM
Aside from the title track (7 ) allthese
CD -resolution files are slam m ed into the
O.OdBFs digital endstop s and p ossess a
typ ical p eak-to-RM S range ofjust 1 0dB.
The recording is otherw ise m ercifully
clear of aliasing and other artefacts. PM
4 CH A R U E B RO W N
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w w w .curl
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W ell,this one’s hardly a toe-tap p er, but
it’s as intriguing as it’s fine-sounding.
Leverton Fox com p rises trum p eter and
electronic m usician Alex Bonney, drum m er
Tim G iles, and electronic m usician/sound
artist, Sam Britton,the latter also know n
by his solo alias Isam bard Khroustaliov.
In T he Flicker w as recorded in one day in
Sep tem ber 2020, out of doors in a Sussex
w ood. Pairs of m icrop hones w ere used to
cap ture both the p erform ances and the
am bient sounds, and the album takes its
insp iration from Stockhausen and its title
from Conrad’s H eart Of D arkness. Now that
m ay w ell seem allvery arty, but the effect
is relaxing, natural, and very organic, even
ifyou’llsp end the first coup le of m inutes
w ondering if anything’s going to hap p en.
Oh, and ifyou’re set up for D olby Atm os,
callthe album up in Ap p le M usic and go for
total im m ersion! A E
O slo-based jazz p ianist and com p oser Jorn
0ien cites as one of his m ajor influences
keyboardist and bandleader Joe Zaw inul,
w hose band W eather Rep ort the young
0ien first discovered w hen just 1 6 , getting
on for 40 years ago. This long-lasting
fascination is instantly ap p arent from
the title track, op ening an album 0ien
describes as ‘a tribute and celebration of
[Zaw inul’s]legacy’in a laid-back sp lash of
electronic accents set against a rhythm
section w ith its roots firm ly in the ‘W orld
M usic’genre. The p ianist’s other influences
range from ‘Sam ifolk m usic and joik,to
the African continent - from Babylon to
Brooklyn’,and they’re all on disp lay in this
relaxing, but alw ays m usically fascinating,
set, aided by a detailed sound that really
brings out the layers of p erform ance and
recording. Not just for W eather Rep ort fans,
this is an excellent listen.AE
In the m id-1 9 6 0s, the jazz p iano ofV ince
G uaraldi set the tone for anim ated TV
versions of Charles M .Schulz’s iconic
P eanuts com ic strip . In 1 9 6 5 A Charlie
Brow n Christm as m ixed G uaraldi originals
w ith jazz rew orkings offestive standards by
the p ianist and his trio,featuring drum m er
Jerry G ranelli and bassist Fred M arshall.
That album w as a big seller, and m ore
follow ed but,sadly,w hat w e have here
is disap p ointingly short of a ‘m ust have’
tribute to the p ianist,w ho died in 1 9 7 6 ,
aged just 47 . It lacks the sp arkle ofthat
festive original, both m usically-fam iliar
them es are trotted out, and the m ultip le
takes of som e tracks are for com p letists
only - and sonically. PM ’s lab notes [below ]
give an insight into w hy the sound is so
m uddy and vague, so you’d do better
to find a decent release ofthe original
Christm as album , and stick to that.AE
SoundQ ual
i
t
y: 85%
SoundQ ual
i
t
y: 80%
SoundQ ual
i
t
y: 65%
LEVERTONFOX
I
nTheFl
i
cker(
48kHz/
24bi
t
,WAV)
100
W ith few discernible ‘instrum ents’in this
electronic/am bient im p rovisation,In T he
Flicker is at tim es intense (a fine sp eaker
w arm -up album !) but alltracks are
cap p ed below -IdB Fs and also p ossessed
of an above average dynam ic range. PM
W ith every track norm alised to -Id B Fs
this 48 kH z rendering should avoid
trip p ing up those D ACs that get into
trouble at OdBFs. H ow ever,w ith a
typ ical p eak-to-RM S range of ~1 Id B the
available 24-bits are not fully utilised. PM
O riginally aired 50 years ago, and m ore
recently ‘restored and re-m astered’,this
analogue recording looks,at som e p oint,
to have been lim ited to ~ 1 8 kH z (lossy
data com p ression?), resam p led at 9 6 kH z
and resam p led again at 1 9 2kH z. PM
D ECEM BER 2023
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This fascin atin g alb u m is the b rain child of tw o
d ru m m ers - Tolhu rst,ex of The Cu re an d Bu d gie
from Siou xsie And The Ban shees - w ho team ed
u p in 201 9 w ith p rod u cer an d m u sician Lee to
record in stru m en tals. The K raftw erk-in sp ired
8Train W ith N o Station 9,featu rin g U 2 gu itarist
The Ed ge,rem ain s in thatform ,b u tthe alb u m
has exp an d ed stylistically. O ver a b ase of
p olyrhythm ic d ru m s,syn ths an d electron ics,
each son g is shap ed b y gu estp erform an ces.
O n 8G hosted AtH om e9Prim al Scream 9s Bob b y
G illesp ie sin gs a yearn in g m elod y over heavy
fu n k grooves; A rrow D e W ild e glam s itu p
in sou cian tly on *U h O h9;an d on 8Bod ies9,artist
an d activistLon n ie H olley9s rap an d M ary
Lattim ore9s harp com b in e b rillian tly.M B
T
SoundQ uality: 90%
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EMMAANDERSON
ANI
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Agitated AGIT066CD; LP:AGIT066
After an ill-fated Lush reunion in 201 6 ,
group co-founder,vocalist and guitarist
Em m a Anderson w as left w ith a stack of
unused com p ositional ideas,w hich have
fed into her debut solo album . Som e songs,
such as the anim ated ‘The Presence’,carry
the feel ofthat group , w hich overlap p ed
the late-’8 0s shoegazing and Britp op
scenes, w hile on ‘Taste The Air’,Anderson
exp lores m ore p astoral p aths, her light,
m obile vocal m elodies set in a gauzy
backing of keyboards and p icked guitars.
The instrum ental ‘Xanthe’is a rem inder that
this w as initially intended to be a collection
of soundtrack m usic and the arrangem ent
on ‘Inter Light’has echoes of John Barry.M B
In 201 9 Baltim ore quartet Anim al
Collective w ent on retreat and w rote
tw o album s’w orth of m aterial ofw hich
2022’s T im e Skiffs w as Part O ne.This is
its m ore challenging counterp art. Their
intricate vocal arrangem ents hark back to
The Beach Boys and V an Dyke Parks, but
filtered through the ellip tical sensibilities
of Pavem ent.This gives an off-kilter feelto
sunshine p op songs such as ‘Broke Zodiac’,
but w hat m arks them out is a need to
keep p ushing forw ard.This lands us in the
brooding op en sp aces and unexp ected
chorus shifts of ‘M agicians From Baltim ore’,
although on the m eandering chorales of
‘D efeat’they do rather lose their focus.M B
This Pennsylvanian trio tap s back into
the p sychedelic traditions ofthe US w est
coast, are beefed up by grunge and are
clearly influenced by the im m ersive guitar
racket of late ’8 0s bands such as M y Bloody
V alentine and, on ‘No Stranger’,the dark
cosm ic riffing of Loop . Catatonic Suns
create an enorm ous sound, p sychedelically
disorientating in its blurred and sw irling
qualities, and thrilling in its relentlessness.
But there’s also m elody in there. ‘Failsafe’
is a m ore radiant m om ent w ith sw eet
chord changes and sw ooning vocals, and
the clouds oftheir overdriven guitars p art
briefly on ‘No Stranger’to reveal sitar
tw angs and celestial keyboards.M B
SoundQ uality: 90%
SoundQ uality: 85%
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G EORGEFREEMAN
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gh Note HCD 7352
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It’s astonishing to hear recordings m ade
only last year by the veteran guitarist w hose
band (including saxist brother V on) once
backed Charlie Parker at Chicago’s Pershing
H otel in 1 9 50. Freem an had just turned 9 5
w hen he recorded four num bers, including
the title tune, w ith Christian M cBride and
CarlAllen. On a second session Freem an,
w ho’d w orked w ith Richard ‘G roove’
H olm es in the 1 9 6 0s and Jim m y M cG riff in
the ’7 0s,team ed hap p ily w ith the greatest
H am m ond p layer of m odern tim es, Joey
D eFrancesco, along w ith drum m er Lew is
Nash. Sadly, D eFrancesco w as to p ass aw ay
just a coup le of m onths later, m aking this a
p oignant p iece ofjazz history.SH
After tw o acoustic studio album s,Spectrum
and Silver Lining Suite,the am azing
Jap anese p ianist has returned to electric
m usic, recruiting three incredibly talented
m usicians for her new band, H irom i’s
Sonicw onder. Jaco-influenced bassist
H adrien Feraud is p artnered on drum s by
the sup erbly p rop ulsive G len Coye, w hile
Adam O ’Farrill is a brilliant trum p eter w hose
p laying can be really beautiful- as on the
exp ansive ‘Polaris’.‘Rem iniscence’,w ith
lyrics co-w ritten and sung by H irom i’s old
friend and one tim e Berklee classm ate Oli
Rockberger, m akes a sw eet and sentim ental
interlude. But otherw ise this is an
exhilarating and breathless ride.SH
Seductive Italian Am erican singer Cavassa
joins the saxop honist here to take us on a
USA trip , p icking up star guests along the
w ay.Trum p eter Nicolas Payton enlivens
‘Do You Know W hat It M eans To M iss New
O rleans’,Joel Ross adds vibes to a ‘Chicago
Blues’that m ashes up Basie w ith Sufjan
Stevens, and guitarists Peter Bernstein and
Kurt Rosenw inkel ap p ear in ‘M anhattan’
and on the ‘Streets O f Philadelp hia’.The
journey starts w ith Redm an’s original ‘After
M inneaop olis’,w ritten days after the Floyd
killing - and ends w ith a re-w rite of the old
p op song ‘W here Are You’,leading to the
question that’s in the album title.SH
SoundQ uality: 80%
SoundQ uality: 85%
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100
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TENDERLONI
OUS
You Know ICar
e
22a Records 043 (CD and LP)
G ifted U K m u lti-in stru m en talistan d p rod u cer
Ed Caw thorn e,ak a Ten d erlon iou s,has record ed
p rolifically on his ow n 22a lab el w ith his j
azz
fu sion b an d Ru b y Ru shton an d also in gen res
ran gin g from In d ian m u sic to p u re electron ica.
This tim e he p ays trib u te to 1 960s j
azz greats
w ho9ve in sp ired him sin ce his early d ays as a DJ.
The title son g b y D u ke Pearson w as origin ally a
featu re for flu te,Ten d er9s p rim ary in stru m en t,
an d he p lays iteloq u en tly here. Bu ton m ost
tracks he is m elod iou s an d en gagin g on alto
saxop hon e. It9s an alb u m of w arm ,gen tle
grooves created b y Pete M artin an d Tim
Carn egie on b ass an d d ru m s w ith lovely flow in g
p ian o w ork b y H am ish Balfou r,b u tab ove all,
Ten d erlon iou s p lays w ith heartan d sou l.S H
YOU KNOW
TENDERLONIOU S
Hi
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P entatone P T C5 187029 (dow nloads to 96kH z/24-bit resolution)
A H u n garian p assp ortisn 9tessen tial to p ass 9G o9
in this m u sic on CD ,b u ttop -n otch en gin eerin g
is:w e9re alm ostu n d er the lid of A im ard 9s p ian o,
an d a d ecen tsystem w ill getthe San Fran cisco
Sym p hon y9s tim p an istp ou n d in g b en eath you r
feet. Yetthe effectis n ever aggressive,even in
the A llegro barbaro of N o 1 ,b ecau se A im ard
an d Salon en m ake su ch n atu ral an d m u sical
sen se of p ieces often treated as an excu se
to rou gh u p an au d ien ce. Ilove the lop sid ed
n ight-w atch m archers atthe heartof N o 1 as
m u ch as the sen su ou s n octu rn e in N o 2 an d the
M ozartian sim p licity of N o 39s A dagio religioso.
Schiff an d A nd a have n ever w on m e over to
these con certos in all their exotic,som etim es
b afflin g d iversity,b u tA im ard d oes.PQ
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HAYDN
L air Sym ph o n ies • 1
No i.9.U 95
Dun ish ( lim n lxr O n h rstrn
PYG MALI
ON/
RAPHAELPI
CHON
DANI
SHC O/
ADAM FI
SCHER
Mont
ev
erdi
: Vespr
o Del
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a B eat
a Vergi
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Haydn: S ymphoni
es Nos 93-95
H arm on la m u nd HI M M 902710.11 (tw o discs;dow nloads to 96/24)
N axos 85 745 16 (dow nloads to 44.1kH z/16-bitresolution)
Mahl
er:S ymphony No 2'
Resurrect
i
on'
First p resented as a son et lum iere event
across southern France,this is w idescreen
M onteverdi, sum p tuously p erform ed and
recorded.A rich continue contingent
sup p orts a w eighty string band and a
thrilling battalion of w inds. Pichon’s grand
p acing and use of sp ace brings a refreshing
rem inder ofthe scale ofthe Vespers as
conceived for the St M ark’s Basilica.The top
line ofthe 40-strong choir fairly p ierces the
air, but the soloists use their naturalvibrato
to p roject their p salm s and hym ns w ith an
exquisite, m adrigalesque tension betw een
declam ation and reflection.W e haven’t had
a Vespers like it since G ardiner’s in V enice,
alm ost 35 years ago [Archiv]
.P Q
Fischer’s H aydn cycle for Nim bus is show ing
its age, and outclassed by the p recision,
the energy and characterful p hrasing of
the Danish CO p layers. Som e stylish new
ideas in Fischer’s direction alw ays serve
the dram a and the contrast betw een tow n
and country idiom s in H aydn’s sym p honic
dialogues. The RCA engineering for Paavo
Jarvi’s H aydn is m ore forensic [HFN O ct ’23]
- you’llhave to turn the dial right up at
the beginning of 9 4(H ), and then you’ll
really get a surp rise.The C m inor 9 5 also
crackles w ith p urp ose before finding a
p roto-Beethovenian p athos for (ii).Allthree
m inuets are beautifully w eighted, esp ecially
the broad-shouldered (iii) of 9 3.P Q
P hilharm onia/Signum SICCD 760 (dow nloads to 96kH z/24-bit res)
This one-off, live RFH recording m ostly
belies its origins in a classically taut and
m eticulously score-sensitive op ening trio
of orchestral m ovem ents. M ezzo Jennifer
Johnston raises the em otionaltem p erature
w ith an *Urlicht’of grave but consoling
dignity, resp ecting the origins ofthe
song as a p rayer for the nearly dep arted.
W hen the ap ocalyp se arrives in (v), Rouvali
p ulls back and out to stagey effect. The
m icrop hones favour vocal and orchestral
soloists over the chorus, and the heavens
finally op en w ith gilded sp lendour rather
than the w eight of Bychkov [Pentatone]or
the ecstatic fervour of Jurow ski [LPO]
.P Q
SoundQ uality: 90%
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SoundQ uality: 85%
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Blastfrom the p ast
Traditional pipe organs and their Hammond successors sound like no other, believes B arry Fox,
which is why he’s thrilled to hear that Ronnie Scott’s has tracked down an original B3 model
ou don’t get m uch m ore
analogue than a church organ.
A conglom eration of m oving
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Irecently w ent to a recital in H ereford
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1 8 9 2, but som e ofthe p ip ew ork is from
an earlier design by G ilbert Scott. It’s
been rep aired and m odified m any tim es
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ter
recently m odernised because they w ere
th e keybo ard itselfw as m o ved aw ay f
ro m th e pipew o rk (rig h t),n o w pro tected beh in d g lass
a sp arking fire risk.A video cam era gives
the audience a view ofthe keys.
sw itches, w hich grow m etal w hiskers over p edals - allstill com p letely original and in
PIPE DREA M S
tim e - and the sw irling sound ofthe Leslie m int condition, w hich is very unusual.
fan and drive m otor.
Like all p ip e organs,the system rem ains
‘W e w ere convinced as soon as w e
Although m odern keyboards do a
better suited to generating rolling bass
saw it and p layed it - w e couldn’t believe
rem arkable job of generating the B3/
than follow ing fancy fingering. W hile
w e’d found one as good as that in the
trying to discern the catchy m elody of a
Leslie sound from a case you can carry on
UK.There’s a lot in Am erica, but you p ay
Percy G rainger tune through the thunder
big m oney to im p ort them and the tone
a bus, ifyou talk to a gigging keys p layer
they still drool over the chance to p lay
and reverb, Ikep t thinking of it as an
w heels have to change because in the UK
an original B3 beast. It’s the live m usic
elep hantine ecclesiastical version ofjazz
w e have 50H z m ains instead of 6 0H z and
equivalent of sp ending a
p ianist G eorge Shearing’s
that affects the p itch.
fortune on vinyl. But only
‘The H am m ond organ and Leslie
elegant block chords.
the biggest nam es, like
Enter the legendary
are m ono. But because of its rotating
sp eaker,w hen you m ic it left and right,
G eorgie Fam e in the UK,
H am m ond organ - m ost
can afford the trucking.
fam ously the B3 m odel
it becom es a stereo thing’,adds M iles.
In the sp irit of back-to- ‘Ap p arently the old m an H am m ond hated
- designed for sm aller
the w hole rotating sp eaker thing. H e w as
analogue extravagance,
churches to use in the
Ronnie Scott’s club in
1 9 30s and 1 9 40s. It relied
a church guy and he didn’t like his organ
London has now bought
on sp inning w heel op tics
to be used in p op and rock ’n’roll. H e
its ow n B3. M iles Ashton
and valve am p s to create
didn’t allow H am m onds and Leslies to be
sold together, but the story is they used
is head of sound and tech at Ronnies.
the tones w hich giant Leslie sp eakers
w ith internalfans w afted round the room . H e cut his teeth engineering the audio
to bundle them together and sellthem
for the NationalYouth Jazz O rchestra,
Foot p edals added p unchy bass.The
out the back door and he never knew !
started in 1 9 6 5 by his father BillAshton.
hot gosp ellers w ho used those churches
‘The Leslie has only broken dow n
created the H am m ond ‘sound’that
once so far.The internal am p is getting
1 9 50s rhythm and blues bands and jazz
fixed.The H am m ond is very beautiful and
GOOD A S N EW
p layers like Jim m y Sm ith ap p rop riated.
sounds ace. Now w e just have to p rotect
Says M iles: ‘The B3 w e have bought
M odern digital keyboards try to m im ic
it and stop it from being scratched! W hen
has a com p letely original w ooden case
the distinctive B3/Leslie sound.They even
it’s not being used on stage w e are going
that is all in one p iece.W e found it at
an enthusiast’s hom e in D orset.An all
rep roduce the defects ofthe original
to keep it on disp lay - in a glass case.’
W ell,you certainly don’t get m ore
original 1 9 58 cherry w ood B3,w ith a
organ, such as key click - a transient
p op p ing m ade by the m echanical leaf
analogue than that.O
Leslie 1 22 cabinet and bench and bass
Y
"‘W ewere
convincedas
soonaswe
playedit”'
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
1 03
FRAN CO SERBL
AT OXFORD AUDIO
After leaving Sonus Faber,founder G ianfranco Serblin w ent on to develop a m ore
traditional range ofstriking high-end sp eakers. Featuring the classic "Serblin" sound,
each m odel has exquisite build, use ofonly the finest com p onents,com p lex cabinets
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There are fou r m od els: Lign ea & A ccord o (stan d m ou n ts) an d
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Cantay House, Park End Street
Oxford, 0X1 1JD
shop@oxfordaudio.co.uk
www.oxfordaudio.co.uk
Tuesday - Friday: 10am to 6pm
Saturday: 10am to 5pm
Closed: Mondays, Sundays
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ap p ly for ou r p op u lar Bu y N ow Pay Later fin an ce.
Jou rnalistfor top Am erican au d io-vid eo p u b lications
W orstform atever?
Cassette p layers and recorders offered a real high-fidelity alternative to eight-track m achines,
says B arry W illis - but the quality of m ass-p roduced p re-recorded tap es is another m atter
urveyors of m em orabilia say
that p eop le have an irrational
fondness for the things of
their youth: sm all bicycles
w ith high-rise handlebars, Barbie dolls,
ragged denim p ants w ith volum inous
bell-bottom s.Alm ost everything looks
ridiculous in hindsight, and alm ost
everything w ith nostalgic ap p eal bears an
insane p rice tag. Forem ost am ong them
is the p re-recorded cassette tap e - the
m usic industry’s hugely p rofitable p roduct
that dom inated the m arket for at least a
decade, m aybe even tw o.
M A K IN G T RA CK S
The p re-recorded cassette tap e began
w here the eight-track cartridge left
off.W ere it not for the fact that the
eight-track enjoyed a m ercifully brief
p op ularity, it w ould definitely com e near
the top of any list ofthe w orst audio
form ats ofthe late 20th century.There
are, of course, several obsolete m edia
form ats w ith inexp licable follow ings LaserD isc, anyone - but to m y know ledge
the eight-track cartridge
doesn’t have one.And
w ith good reason: the
clunky eight-track w as so
p oorly conceived that m ost
p layers lacked the ability
to find the beginning of a
song on an adjacent track.
You hit the ‘next’button
and just hop ed for the best.
The em ergence ofthe cassette tap e
as a high-fidelity m edium w as p artially
a hap p y result of advancem ents m ade
in p layer/recorder design by several
electronics com p anies, m ost notably
Nakam ichi and Tandberg. You couldn’t go
w rong w ith either brand. O thers m ade
contributions to the art as w ell: H arm an
Kardon introduced D olby H X (headroom
extension) technology in the early 1 9 8 0s,
a schem e that used incom ing highfrequency content to m odulate the bias
level during recording, thereby dep ositing
ABOVE:Laun ch ed in 1 98 4,th e Aiw a AD-F7 7 0 w as a th ree-h ead ed cassetted eck rich in f
eatures
w h ile also bo astin g a co m puter-co n tro lled tap e o ptim isatio n system an d d ual-capstan d rive
the last drop of detail on low -sp eed tap e.
And the gods w ere sm iling on you ifyou
w ere lucky enough to have ow ned an
Aiw a AD -F7 7 0 - m y candidate for the
m ost brilliant and m ost undervalued
p iece of gear from the cassette era.
HIGHS A N D LOW S
Ray D olby deserves m ention in any
discussion of cassette tap e. H e began his
career as a radio astronom er, scanning
the background noise ofthe universe
for signs of intelligent life - basically, an
exercise in sep arating
signalfrom noise.The
insight he gained form ed
the basis for D olby noise
reduction,w herein
up p er frequencies are
boosted during recording,
then p ushed dow n by
an equivalent am ount
in p layback,thereby
im p roving not only signal-to-noise ratio
but usable dynam ic range.
Early on, D olby toyed w ith p roducing
tap e decks but realised that licensing
his technology w as w here the real
action lay. D olby Labs rep ortedly earned
ap p roxim ately $ 1 each in licensing
fees from the m ore than one billion
cassette decks m anufactured w orldw ide
during the form at’s dom inance.
Advancem ents in electro-m echanics
and signal p rocessing com bined to lift
the cassette tap e from a low ly dictation
'R ayDolby
toyedwith
producing
tapedecks'
device to a true high-fidelity form at.
W ith a decent m achine and quality tap e
(M axell or TD K,for exam p le) you could
get really good results recording from
vinyl, and esp ecially from CD . It’s often
forgotten that CD and cassette co-existed
quite com fortably for years,to the
consternation ofthe recording industry.
The desp icable p re-recorded cassette
tap e is another story altogether. It’s
astounding to discover that w hat Ihave
alw ays considered toxic landfill actually
has value - p eop le w ill p ay U S$ 50 or
$ 6 0 for favourite tap es from the 1 9 7 0s
and ’8 0s. The p roducts that flooded the
m arket then w ere m ade on high-sp eed
bulk rep licators using the cheap est
p ossible tap e in low -p recision, highfriction housings.The p roduction cost for
m ost ofthem could not have exceeded
tw enty-five cents p er unit, but they sold
at the sam e p rices as vinyl LPs and CD s,
and p eop le bought them by the m illions.
EA T EN M ESS
It w as an incredibly cynical m ove by
an incredibly cynical industry, a m ove
sw allow ed w hole by a gullible p ublic.
A friend w ith a m assive collection of
such p roducts - they haven’t im p roved
w ith age - com p lains that w hen he tries
to p lay m ost ofthem , his tap e decks
‘eat’the tap e. Yet on the test bench his
m achines p rove p roblem -free w hen given
high-quality tap es. So it’s the p roduct
that’s at fault, not the form at.0
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
1 05
Quadr
aspi
r
e
S ince 1995
FU RN ITU RE TO MAKE YOU R
HIFI S OU N D EVEN BETTER
B ETTER S O U N D
- M O D U LAR D ES IG N
- S IM P LE TO B U ILD
w w w .q u adr aspir e.co .u k
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Under a cloud
Jim Lesu rf adm its hisw ay ofstoring digitalm u sic- on a physicalsolid-state drive - m ightbe
thou ght‘ol
dfashioned’,bu titprotects him from data hacksandl
ow ers hiscarbon footprint
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RIG HT :Sto rin g
ack in the O ctober 2023 issue
d ig itald ata in th e
Ioutlined how Ifind it m ore
clo ud ,w h eth er
convenient to store m y digital
music,ph o to s
m usic files on solid-state drives
(SSDs) and m ove these from room to o rvid eo ,allo w s
room and betw een system s on foot rather fo rco n ven ien t
than use a NAS.This led m e to think a bit
accessf
ro m a
m ore about m y ap p roach given that it
n etw o rk-co n n ected
d evice such asa
differs from w hat m ost p eop le do.
O ver the last decade or so, m any
sm artph o n e,but
p eop le have m oved beyond having a NAS th e auth o rw o n d ers
abo utits g reen
running one or m ore traditional sp inning
cred en tials
hard drives in their hom e and now use
their m obile devices to stream m usic
from the cloud. In effect, they store m uch
oftheir p ersonal inform ation on rem ote
w ho-know s-w here p laces.This is certainly
convenient. After all, it m eans you can
esp ecially ‘green’!The reality is that
access content not just at hom e but
w herever you hap p en to be.Yet there is a it usually consists of a vast num ber of
com p uters, stacked up in large buildings
snag, and one that hides out of sight...
around the globe, all running 24/7 .Your
data - often dup licated to p revent loss A ST ORM BREW IN G
The obvious draw back is that your
is im m ediately available, along w ith the
content and inform ation m ight be
data of everyone w ho uses the cloud. As
vulnerable to the activity of ‘black hats’
a result, even w hen you aren’t using any
of your devices or need access, energy is
w ho m ay steal p ersonal data for their
ow n dubious p urp oses.That’s som ething
being consum ed to keep
this all running - just in
m ost p eop le are aw are of.They hear
rep orts of p ersonal data being hacked
case you w ant the data
and understand this can lead to scam
now . H ow m uch energy is
attem p ts and digital blackm ail,etc. But
consum ed is hard to say.
there is another loom ing p roblem w hich
You p ay for this, of
has been in the new s m edia a lot recently. course. But in p art that
Q uite sim p ly, dep ending on your
m eans you are p aying your
p rovider,the cloud is not alw ays
share ofthe cost of a lot of
electric p ow er even w hen
you’re not needing it. In contrast, an SSD
able to hold gigabytes of data w ith a USB
lead and an adap ter can be sw itched off
w hen not being used. It then consum es
no p ow er untilyou need to access it
again. W hen off and disconnected, it
can’t it be hacked rem otely either.
O f course,the cost of buying an
SSD does include the energy used to
m anufacture it, p ackage it, and transp ort
j ABOVE:AtypicalNAS d rivew ith a n um bero f
it to you, p hysically,w hen you p urchase
= baysto h o ld trad itio n alspin n in g h ard d rives
it.And there is alw ays a risk that it m ay
m
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fail at som e p oint, get stolen or becom e
m isp laced. But it does also m ean you do
ow n and hold your digital inform ation.
W hereas w ith the cloud you are, instead,
renting access to your ow n data.
:
=
i
i
i
A SM A RT ER CHOICE?
*
There’s an old definition of ‘Engineer’
j
along the lines of: ‘Som eone w ho can
i
do som ething quickly for
a p ound w hat any fooli
could do m ore slow ly for i
ten p ounds’.H ow ever,
!
engineers did invent and
;
develop both the cloud
i
and technology such as
•
solid-state drives and USB i
connectors. So p erhap s
=
the sm art thing to do
;
is decide w hich ofthese m any op tions
i
best suits your needs. Ifsom e data is
i
frequently used allthe tim e and in varying ■
locations then the cloud m ay m ake
good sense after all. But in dom estic
i
circum stances, m aybe a traditional
ap p roach to local storage is better.
;
H aving given thought to this, and
i
desp ite m y w ay seem ing old-fashioned
:
or daft, Ido p refer to keep m y data ‘at
i
hom e’.Particularly given events ofthe
last year and concerns about the future.(
!) i
'W i
t
hthe
cloudyouare
rentingaccess
t
oyourdata'
DECEM BER 2023
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
1 07
^ uelyour
_ _ P a ® sion for
sound
and
m
ake
y o w m usi
cX g
w w w .hifichoice.com
'NO W ! j
T HE ESSENT IAL G U IDE...
to g ettin g th e bestpo ssibleso un d
f
ro m yo urh i-f
i,w h eth eryo u're
buyin g ,tun in g o rtw eakin g
Fo llo w us:
tw itter.com @ HiFiC hoiceM ag
facebook .com /hifichoice.co.u k
hifichoicem agaz ine
— —
*
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tiba*
Im
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Hi-fiChoice
CLASSIC CU T S
rj
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T RACK ST ARS
DREAM ST REAM
■^
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M B
Mu sicJou rnal
ist
N orthern territories
D ow n-to-earth hum our and cucum ber salad... once he dried out from w atching T osca in the rain,
Peter Q u an trill used insights gained from a book to guide him on a trip to Sw eden and D enm ark
RIG HT :M ich ael
late sum m er trip to southern
Sw eden took m e to Birgit Nilsson Fabian o reprises th e
ro le o fCavarad o ssi
country: the Bjare p eninsula,
w here the sop rano grew up as
alo n g sid e Jo yce
El-Kof
h o ury asT o sca
a farm er’s daughter. If only the legacy
w h ile bravin g th e
other celebrated m usicians w as curated
elem en ts atth e
and m anaged w ith the loving care ofthe
Birgit Nilsson M useum , run by her cousin’s ‘Birg itNilsso n d ays 2023’ even t
daughter, G itte Lindstrom H arm ark.
in Vastra K arup,
The contrast w ith M aria Callas, for
Sw ed en
exam p le, w as unavoidable. O nly this
sum m er, 46 years after her death in Paris,
has a m useum op ened in Athens, and
it inevitably p reserves just a fraction of
her effects,w hich w ere snaffled up and
sold by any num ber of dubious hangerson, m aking a quick buck out oftheir
p roxim ity to her celebrity.
Best of all, Ifound m yself in Ingm ar
Bergm an country,just a few bays north
LO CAL HERO
ofthe setting for the op ening sequence
Nilsson, how ever, enjoyed a stable
of T he Seventh Seal.A concert hall has
hom e life, and knew how to m anage
been built - again, w ith the p rudently
her m oney. In her hom e village ofV astra
Karup ,the m useum disp lays everything
invested cap ital from Nilsson’s legacy
from contracts to costum es. Iheld one of - and a short w alk aw ay is the country
house setting for Bergm an’s first film in
her sensible shoes, and p eered through
colour, a forgettable com edy. Before the
glass cases at em eralds and diam onds
w hich w ere am ong the
rains cam e, allthe sam e,
rew ards for becom ing the
the gardens w ere no less
leading Brunnhilde of her
evocative of Bergm an
generation in an era w hen
than ifthe house-shoes
still had Nilsson in them .
op era offered big m oney
for all concerned.
O bservations
The ostensible p urp ose
throughout the trip
ofthe trip w as to review
brought to m ind the book
an op en-air p erform ance
w hich has rew arded m e
of T osca, staged in a field
m ore than any other since
next to the m useum . Ihad never sat
it w as released last year. T he N orthern
through an op era in the driving rain, and
Silence covers m ost asp ects of Nordic/
it’s an exp erience Ihave to say Iw ouldn’t Scandinavian life and culture,from art
rep eat even if Nilsson herselfw ere on
and m usic to binge-drinking and rottenthe covered stage. The com p ensations,
fish eating. Its author is Andrew M ellor,
as is often the case on such excursions,
w ho is a friend of m ine so Iam biased,
lay elsew here, and in the unexp ected.A
but Icannot im agine anyone finding tim e
cake nam ed after the Sw edish queen,the
sp ent w ith it unrew arded.
sim p le grave for Nilsson and her husband,
M ellor takes his m any trip s through
a p erfect cucum ber salad p rep ared to
the region and conversations w ith its
Lindstrom H arm ark’s ow n recip e at the
inhabitants to p eel back the layers of a
culture w hich m any of us observe from
Birgit Nilsson M useum ’s cafe...
A
'I had never
satthrough an
opera in the
drivingrain’
the outside as cold, abrup t, intense and
resistant to outsiders (and therefore
p erhap s allthe m ore ap p ealing to
som e). None ofthose characteristics are
contradicted so m uch as deep ened by an
understanding oftheir origins.
Certainly,just a hundred m iles north
of Cop enhagen, the w ell-travelled Danish
concep t of hy gge w as in evidence am ong
allthose on the Bjare p eninsula w ho
w elcom ed us, a handful of nosy foreign
m usic journalists, to take our notes at
the affection they evidently stillfelt for
Nilsson.This w as p erhap s less as a m usical
artist than as som eone w ho had brought
p rosp erity and a m easure offam e (not
too m uch) to their land.
NORTHERN SOUL
As Andrew M ellor has p ointed out to m e
before now ,though,the Danes have no
w ord for ‘p lease’,and the custom s and
courtesies ofthe North are not ours (as
w ell, of course,from being different to
each other’s). G eograp hical determ inism
is the easiest gam e to p lay and the
largest trap to fall into w hen discussing
culture, but T he N orthern Silence brings
clim ate and architecture, language and
op era alltogether, in giving that silence a
voice to us outsiders.0
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
1 09
Audi
o Sci
ence:Iam goi
ng
to gi
ve m y hi
ghest
recom m endati
on for
M atri
xAudi
o El
em entX.
Congratul
ati
onsand thanks
forputti
ng engi
neeri
ng
and qual
i
fy fi
rst.
Am i
r- Founder
M A TR IX A U D IO
Audi
o Sci
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Am i
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Si
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El
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d oes,h ead ph one am psand accessory prod ucts.M atri
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ANDING
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orby e-m ai
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.com
■ Co n tributo r
Li
sten up
Steve Harris warns it’s not only rock music fans who need to take care of their ears in this era of
headphones, and meets the jazz singer reaping the benefits of digital hearing aid technology
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n 1 9 7 6 ,The W ho p layed ‘the loudest
concert ever’at The V alley football
ground w ith a level of 1 26 dBA
at 30m from the stage. Rather
i horrifyingly, other bands have since
i sm ashed The W ho’s record and destroyed
the hearing of m any fans in the p rocess,
An O ttaw a concert by Kiss in 2009 is said
to have reached a reading of 1 36 dB.
By then, though, the G uinness Book
Of W orld Records had discontinued its
‘loudest band’category rather than
encourage further hearing dam age,
and The W ho’s Pete Tow nshend had
funded the US non-p rofit H EAR [H earing
Education and Aw areness for Rockers]
.
I
EA R T ODA Y ,GON E T OM ORROW
Am ong other m usician casualties is jazz/
rock guitarist Al Di M eola,w ho suffered
catastrop hic tinnitus and had to give
up the electric guitar for severalyears.
H erbie H ancock has been w earing
hearing aids since 2006 , and has been
quoted as w ishing he’d w orn earp lugs
from the beginning of his career.
D utch-born but now U K-based
singer W ilm a Baan w as
once forced to give up
m usic because of hearing
im p airm ent - but now , in
her later years, has released
tw o album s of songbook
and jazz standards.So N ice
(2021 ) and her current
Look A t M e N ow w ere both
em p athetically p roduced
by Claire M artin O BE and engineered by
Chris Traves,w ith sup erb arrangem ents
by p ianist G raham H arvey.
In the early 1 9 8 0s,W ilm a w as w orking
as a nurse by day and singing by night.
She continued to p erform w henever
p ossible w hile her husband’s oil com p any
career took their grow ing fam ily to
O m an, Brunei, Borneo and G reece. But
she’d began to suffer hearing loss.
The crunch cam e one day, she says,
w hen rehearsing w ith a trio: ‘They said,
ABOVE:Herbie Han co ck,w h o h as been w earin g h earin g aid s sin ce 2006,pictured o n stag e in
Freiburg in 201 7 (lef
t)an d (rig h t)th e Dutch -bo m ,butn o w U K -based ,jazz sin g erW ilm a Baan
“Sorry, but you are off p itch” .That w as
m y traum atic m om ent. Ithought, right!
Okay! This is it, bye bye singing’.
Back in the Netherlands,W ilm a
learned that the analogue hearing aids
ofthe day w ouldn’t help . She had to bide
her tim e until 1 9 9 6 w hen digital hearing
aids, w here the resp onse
of the device could be
tailored to the hearing
of the user, becam e
available in Europ e.
‘And Iw as,you know , I
don’t care w hat they look
like, Iw illjust buy a p air!
It started w ith w hat they
called in-ear, like a blob of
chew ing gum , com p letely auricle-filling.
They w ere m onstrosities really.They
com p letely close offyour ear.’
Sm aller versions follow ed, the receiver
in-canal (RIC) and com p letely-in-canal
(CIC) typ es, still closing off every natural
sound. ‘That took getting used to. But
then, in 2000-som ething, there cam e
these lovely op en fits.You have the
technology behind your ear, but you
have this little tube leading into your ear.
Basically, nobody sees that.’
'A concertby
K issin20 0 9
issaidt
ohave
hi
t136dB'
Im p ortantly,the tube does not fully
block the ear canal, so you still receive
natural sounds as w ell as the am p lified
sound from the tube. ‘Iw as a bit w orried
w hen Idecided that Iw anted to m ake
an old dream com e true and record an
album ’,adm its W ilm a. ‘Ithought, in order
to record Ineed to w ear headp hones,
and Ialm ost p anicked! Because w hen
you close offthe m icrop hones that Iuse
you w ill im m ediately get feedback, the
dreaded w histle!’
K EEP IT DOW N
Chris Traves solved this issue by giving
W ilm a the op en-back H D 6 6 0S from
Sennheiser. M onitoring on stage needs
care too and ideally,W ilm a w ould like a
system that stream ed the signalto her
hearing aids by Bluetooth,the sam e w ay
she connects to her p hone.
W ilm a’s story is an insp iration, but
p erhap s also a w arning. You don’t need
to be an old-style headbanger, or a fan of
ridiculously loud concerts like those that
took p lace in the 1 9 7 0s, to suffer hearing
im p airm ent.Today, loud sounds from
headp hones and earbuds are dam aging
the hearing of a w hole generation.O
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
111
r
Sendin you r view s to: S ou ndOff,
Hi-FiN ew s. AVTech M edia ltd,S afeship Fu l
fil
m entLtd,
U nitA,C u l
l
etD rive,Q u eenborou gh,ME115JS
or em ailyou r view s to:l
etters@ hifinew s.com pl
ease u se ‘S ou ndO ffin you r su bj
ectfiel
d
,
Jaz z atStJohn
REA D ER RECALLS CH U RCH PERFO RM AN CES IN PIN N ER
Corresp on d en ts exp ress their ow n op inions,notthose ofH i-FiN ew s.W e reserve the rightto ed itletters for p u b lication .
Corresp on d en ts u sing e-m ail are asked to give their fu ll p ostal ad d ress (w hich w on 9tb e p u b lished ). Letters seekin g ad vice
w ill b e answ ered in p rinton ou r Sou nd O ff p ages,b u td u e to tim e con strain ts w e regretw e9re u n ab le to an sw er qu estion s on
b u yin g item s of hi-fior any other hi-fiqu eries b y telep hon e,p ostor via e-m ail.
ISHURE N O MORE?
? ALTERN ATIV ES TO O RIG IN AL B RAN D ’ S S TYLI
: In a n um bero frecen tcartrid g e
: review s Ih ave seen f
avo urable
• ref
eren ces m ad e to Sh ure
: pick-ups.T h e bran d w as also
: m en tio n ed in a letterin th e So un d
■ Of
fpag es o fth e Jun e issue h ead ed
: ‘A 21 stcen tury G arrard 401 ’ an d
: Jim Lesurf
’sNo vem berOpin io n
: co lum n en titled ‘Sh ure bet’.
:
In 1 9961 in h erited a T h o ren s
; T D 1 24/1 1 turn table w ith an SM E
: 301 2 Series IIarm an d Sh ure
: VIS cartrid g e.T h is set-up w as
: serviced by T erry O ’Sullivan
: atLo ricraf
tw h o replaced th e
: cartrid g e w ith a G o ld rin g 1 042,
■ th o ug h in 2001 1 return ed to usin g a
: Sh ure in th e f
o rm o fa VI5VxM R.
:
Ref
errin g to Jim Lesurf
’s ‘Sh ure
• bet’ piece in w h ich h e m en tio n ed
: th atSh ure h ad sto pped o f
f
erin g
• replacem en tstylif
o rth e VIS series
: m an y years ag o , Iw o uld rem in d
• h im o fth e M ay ’ 1 6 issue o fHFN
: an d a letterin th e So un d Of
fpag es
: w ith th e h ead in g ‘Replacem en t
: stylus f
o rVIS’.Fo llo w in g a reply to
• th e read er’sletterby Jim h im self
,
: Ad am Sm ith sug g ested takin g a
: lo o k atth e replacem en tstylif
or
: Sh ure cartrid g es o f
f
ered by JICO
• (w w w .jico-stylus.com ).
RB O VE: T h e Sh ure V I5VxM R arrived in
1 996 an d sa w th e V1 5 n am e revived
Ih ave been usin g th e JICO
VN5X M R HG SAS/B stylus f
o rso m e
tim e an d f
in d itsuperio rto Sh ure’s
o w n versio n , o fw h ich Ih ave o n e
f
o rkeepsake.M y turn table is
h o o ked up to a Q uad 99 pream p,
909 po w eram p an d So n us f
aber
Olym pics No va IIIlo ud speakers.
M arkB eenstock, vi
a em ai
l
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
B arry Fox repl
ies: It’sal
w ays goodto hear from
readers w ho w antto share their experiences of
l
istening l
ive in a goodacou stic,w ith m inim al
am ping,andatsensibl
e seatprices. I've recentl
y
re-discoveredM il
ton C ou rt,w hich is j
u stdow n the
streetfrom the B arbican C entre.
C l
adin w ood,the hal
lis sim il
ar to the Kings
Pl
ace hal
l
s near King’sC ross. M il
ton C ou rtis
‘hom e’ to the G u il
dhal
lS choolofM u sic andpu ts on
excel
l
entconcerts (cl
assicalandj
az z )atbargain
prices,bu tw ithou thigh profil
e pu bl
icity. Soyou
w illneedto dig into both ofthese w ebsites: w w w .
b arb i
can, org. uk/hi
re/p rom oters/m i
l
ton-courtconcert-hal
landw w w .gsm d.ac.uk/w hats-on.
¥
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W hitW or ld
O U R HI-FIW O RLD TH RO U G H TH E EYES O F W H ITW O RTH
Jim Lesu rfrepl
ies: I’m aw are of
JIC O's range ofrepl
acem entstyl
i,
M ark ,bu thave yetto investigate
them fu l
l
y as m y original
s seem to
have sol
dieredon to an am az ing
extent!B u tgiven you r positive
experience Iam now su fficientl
y
intrigu edto give one a t
ry.
ABO VE: M ark’sT h o ren s T D 1 24/1 1 w ith its SM E arm an d Sh ure V I5VxM R pick-up
112
Iread Barry Fo x’sco lum n in th e Octo berissue
w ith in terest.He m en tio n ed StJo h n th e Baptist
ch urch in P in n er.Ilived in P in n erun til2006 an d
atten d ed severalo fth e m o n th ly jazz n ig h ts h eld
atth e ch urch .T w o co n certs in particularstan d o ut
in m y m in d .T h e f
irstw as a tribute to Steph an e
G rappelliw ith Jo h n Eth erid g e o n g uitaran d th e
seco n d w as a Sun d ay af
tern o o n classicalco n cert
h eld in 2005 f
eaturin g Stew artFten ch o n g uitar
an d P in n erresid en tElizabeth M ay o n cello .Bo th
excellen ten tertain m en tata reaso n able price.
K ei
thJenki
ns, vi
a em ai
l
DECEMBER 2023
"WHAT DO YOU T HI
NK
OFMY NEW
HI
6H-FI
?”
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IA D AC for the fu tu r e
■
4
: CAN YO U RECO M M EN D A SIN G LE CO N VERTER FO R M Y D IVERSE D IG ITAL D EVICES?
Andrew Everardrepl
ies: W ith the shift •
tow ards ever m ore digital
-sou rced
:
m u sic - notw ithstanding the continu ed •
popu l
arity ofvinyl- m any am pl
ifiers
:
have sprou tedm u l
tipl
e digitalinpu ts,
•
incl
u ding U SB-B 'com pu ter au dio’
:
ports al
ong w ith the fam il
iar opticaland •
coaxialconnections. S om e even have
:
HD M Iinpu ts w ith ARC (au dio retu rn
•
channel
)capabil
ity for the connection
:
ofsou ndfrom a TV set.
•
So changing you r am pl
ifier for one
:
w ith a fu l
ldigitalfeatu re-setm ightbe
•
one rou te to take,providedyou can find :
one w ith the req u iredsetofinpu ts and •
a sou ndthatw illm atch or better that
:
ofyou r Linn. B u tasyou seem happy
•
w ith the sou ndofyou r cu rrentam p and :
speak ers,u sing a D AC abl
e to fu nction •
as a ’digitalhu b'is probabl
y the m ost *
■
cost-effective sol
u tion. I'd su ggestthe
•
Au diol
ab M -D AC + [H FN Ju n T6],at
:
arou nd£650 as an idealstarting point.
•
Ithas su fficientinpu ts - tw o coaxial
,
:
tw o Tosl
ink optical
,one AES /EB U ,and •
a U SB for P C - and,depending on the j
inpu tu sed,can acceptdatastream s at •
u p to 38 4k Hz /32-bitandD SD 256.
j
The M -D AC + is al
so basedarou nd :
a tried-and-testedconverter chip,the
j
ESS ES90 18 ,offers a w ide choice
:
ofdigitalfil
ter options - ifthat'syou r
:
thing - andhas an excel
l
entanal
ogu e
:
section,providing l
ine or variabl
el
evel •
ou tpu tto the am pl
ifier. Ital
so boasts a
:
rather goodin-bu il
theadphone am p.
:
Al
lofthis is fittedinto a pack age w hich, •
: co stless th an £5000,w h ich is pretty
ifnotas com pactasthe tiny C hord
•
: m o d estby to d ay’s stan d ard s.
M oj
o 2 D AC ,w illtak e u p m inim al
:
■
■
Steve M errick, vi
a em ai
l space in its ’hal
f-w idth’ hou sing.
: I’ve o w n ed a h i-f
isystem sin ce I
: started m y f
irstpro perjo b in th e m id
: 1 97 0s.Id id n ’tcallitan ‘an alo g ue’
: system because d ig italco m po n en ts
: d id n ’texistan d so th ere w as n o
: altern ative to co m pare itw ith .Even
: w h en CD appeared , th e players h ad
: th e DAC h id d en aw ay in sid e w ith
: tw o RCA ph o n o s o n th e o utsid e,
: d eliverin g an an alo g ue sig n al.
:
So m y system w as an alo g ue th en ,
: an d itis n o w .Oris i
t? Irecen tly
: realised m y set-up h as th ree d ig ital
: d evices as in puts, an d n o an alo g ue
• o n es.Each o fth em - m y P C (lo cal
: h ard d isk m usic co llectio n ),m y Reg a
: Apo llo CD playeran d m y T V - is
: d ig ital, an d h as its o w n DAC,w h ich
• seem s in ef
f
icien t.As Ico n sid er
: pen sio n -d epen d en tupg rad es, sh o uld
: Ibe lo o kin g atth in g s d if
f
eren tly? Are
: th ere such th in g s as DACs w ith th ree
• in puts (tw o o pticalan d o n e U SB)
: th atIco uld sw itch betw een ? Orare
: th ere am ps th ato f
f
ersuch sw itch in g ?
: Have yo u ad vice to o f
f
ero ld -tim e
: read ers like m e,w h o se system s h ave
: m o rph ed in to d ig italset-ups?
:
Icurren tly use a Ch o rd M o jo 2
: DAC [HFN Apr’22] co n n ected to m y
: P C, an d I’m d elig h ted w ith th e so un d
■via m y G rad o SR325e an d Sen n h eiser
i HD800S [HFN M ay ’1 6] h ead ph o n es,
i an d th ro ug h th e m ain system .T h e
: Reg a CD playeris pretty g o o d to o .
■M y am p is a Lin n M ajik 1 d rivin g
\ B& W CDM -7 NT speakers.T h is all
■
■
4-
4
•
Yes an d
n o : U sin g
th e sam e
eq uipm en tan d a q uality DAC,a 24/96
f
ile (f
o r exam ple) w ill alw ays so un d
better th an a CD 1 6/44.1 f
ile ... but,
even a sin g le JitterBug w ill o f
ten
allo w a CD f
ile to be m o re musicalan d
m o re em o tio n ally stim ulatin g th an
a Hi-Res f
ile w ith o utth e ben ef
ito fa
JitterBug .
No ise i
s th e pro blem . Real n o ise—
th e kin d yo u can 'th eard irectly.Mo st
of
ten , th e w o rd "n o ise" i
s used to
d escribe tap e h iss o r a scratch o n a
reco rd ,butth ese so un d s aren 'tn o ise;
th ey are pro perly repro d uced so un d s
th atw e w ish w eren ’tth ere.
P ro blem n o ise i
s essen tially ran d o m ,
reso n an t o r parasitic en erg y, w h ich
h as n o m ean in g . It can 't be turn ed
in to d iscrete so un d s, but it d o es
co m pro m ise sig n al in teg rity an d th e
perf
o rm an ce o f
everyth in g itto uch es.
JitterBug 's d ual-f
un ctio n
lin e
co n d itio n in g circuitry g reatly red uces
th e n o ise an d rin g in g th atplag ue b oth
th e d ata an d po w erT i
n es o fU SB po rts,
w h eth er o n a co m puter, streamer,
h o m e stereo o r car aud io f
ro n t-pan el
U SB in put.
A sin g le JitterBug i
s used i
n betw een
d evices (i.e., in series) as sh o w n
belo w . Fo r an ad d itio n al "w o w "
experien ce, try a seco n d JitterBug
in to an o th er U SB po rt o n th e sam e
d evice (such as a co m puter).W h eth er
th e seco n d po rt i
s vacan t, o r i
s
f
eed in g a prin tero rch arg in g a ph o n e,
JitterBug '
s n o ise-red uctio n ability i
s
likely to surprise yo u. No , th e prin ter
w o n 'tbe af
f
ected — o n ly th e aud io !
W h ile a JitterBug h elps MP 3s so un d a
lo tm o re like music, n ig h -sam ple-rate
f
iles h ave th e m o stn o isevuln erability.
T ry a JitterBug o r tw o o n all yo ur
eq uipm en t, butn everm o re th an tw o
per U SB bus.T h ere i
s such a th in g as
to o m uch o fa g o o d th in g .
ABO VE:T h e M DAC+ h as co axial,T o slin k o p ticalan d AES/EBU in puts plus U SB f
o rPC
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
113
SU B SC R IP TIO N O FFER
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issue
RSOU ND
T
K T OP PE
new s
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*
Seeking a groovy reu nion
P o w erf
ul, Im m ersive
So un d f
ro m Co m puters
an d M o bile Devices!
HU NT FOR ’50S P HILIPS T U RNT ABLE BEG INS AFT ER COU P LE REDISCOVER T HE JOYS OF VINYL
Iw as o n e o fth e m an y w h o g ave up
th eirturn tables in th e late 1 980s - in
m y case an Aristo n RD8 0 eq uip p ed
w ith a Lin n Basik arm - in th e belief
th atd ig italh ad m ad e vin ylred un d an t.
Decad es later, m y w if
e Z ietra ag reed
to th e purch ase o fa seco n d h an d
SM E M o d el1 0 turn table [HEN Dec
’99 & M ar ’21 ] w ith a d ualT im estep
arm bo ard .W e’d alw ays en jo yed
listen in g to Ella Fitzg erald an d Lo uis
Arm stro n g ’sElla & Louis album o n
CD, butw illn everf
o rg etth atf
irst
even in g w ith th e SM E 1 0 w h en Lo uis
p ip ed in w ith ‘A p rilIn P aris’.W e bro ke
in to g rin s - w e w ere listen in g to a
realvo ice, n o ta f
acsim ile!An d th is
w ith a m o d estOrto f
o n 2M Blue M M
cartrid g e [HFN Feb ’08 ].
An yw ay, Z ietra w an ted m e to kn o w
th atsh e’d been an an alo g ue f
an
bef
o re m e an d to p ro ve itp ro d uced a
p icture o fh erselfan d h erP h ilips Disc
Jo ckey M ajo rturn table, w h ich w as
taken in Ham burg so m etim e in 1 961 .
Z ietra can ’trem em berth e reco rd
sh e w as cuein g up in th e ph o to g raph
butg iven h ertastes an d th e year,
h erg uess is it’s p ro bably Stan ley
T brren tin e an d a bito fso uljazz.
W e n o w p lan to seek o uta Disc
Jo ckey M ajo rturn table o n lin e
o rperh aps atan aud io jum ble.
G iven K en K essler’s lo n g evity h e’ll
d o ubtless h ave review ed th is table
in th e past.W e’d th eref
o re value
h is ad vice o n a suitable cartrid g e
up g rad e read y f
o rw h en w e f
in ally
track o n e d o w n .An d Iim ag in e ed ito r
P aulM illerw illh ave th e stats o n th e
ABO VE:Z ietra w ith a P h ilips Disc Jo ckey
M ajo rsuitcase g ram o p h o n e f
ro m 1 955
P h ilips turn table’s rum ble, w o w ,
f
lutteran d arm reso n an ce f
iled
aw ay so m ew h ere to o .K eep up
th e g reatw o rk everyo n e!
M ichaelDoran, vi
a em ail
Ken Kessl
er repl
ies: O r dinarily this
w ou ldbeg the q u estion, ‘W hy?’
as the P hil
ips AG 2121 D isc Jock ey
M aj
or,a pre-cu rsor to m obil
eD J
deck s,is rather obsol
ete - bu t,of
cou rse,nostal
gia is you r im petu s. (I
fou ndan AG 2121 on eB ay for £8 9.)
The val
ves are no pr oblem anda
r ebu ildw ou ld be straightforw ard
for a recor d pl
ayer l
au nched 70
years ago,bu tfitting m odern
cartridges insteadofthe standard
AG 30 10 m ightr eq u ire su rgery.
How ever,sou rces su ch as w w w .
snvi
nyl
.co.uk sel
lthe P hil
ips G P -230
thatcan replace it.
Fo uryears ag o , Aud io Q uestsh o o k th e
h i-f
i w o rld w ith o ur f
irst Drag o n Fly
DAC-P ream p -Head p h o n e Am p — th e
rare aud io pro d uctth atbro ug h tm o re
co m pellin g so un d to allm usic lo vers,
playin g h ig h -res f
iles to MP 3s o n per
f
ectio n istsystem s an d m o d estlapto ps.
No w , th e n ew Drag o n Fly Black an d
Drag o n Fly Red exceed th eir p red e
cesso r in every w ay, d eliverin g m o re
beautif
ul m usic, bo astin g so f
tw are
upg rad ability, an d pro vid in g co m p at
ibility w ith An d ro id an d Ap p le iOS
m o bile d evices.
W h ile Black o f
f
ers m o re clarity,d ep th
an d categ o ry-d ef
in in g value th an ever
bef
o re,th e take-n o -priso n ers Red pro
vid es even m o re f
in esse, reso lutio n ,
to rq ue an d m o re th an en o ug h p o w
erto d rive even th e m o std em an d in g
h ead ph o n es.
T h e w o rd i
s o ut: Dig italAud io Review .
n et'
s Jo h n Darko calls Drag o n Fly Red
an d Black "th e f
in est exam ples o fev
erym an h if
ito everg race th ese pag es.
T h eirvalue q uo tien ts explo d e th e d ial."
Letth e jo yf
ulexperien ce beg in !
ABO VE:T h e SM E 1 0 w ith a M o d el1 0 arm an d (lef
t)8 -bitm icro pro cesso r-co n tro lled PSU
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
115
IA ‘storm of m em ories’
: BU D FRIED,A P AP ER T RAIL ,P LU S A ST ORY OF SP EAK ER SERENDIP IT Y
■ K en K essler’s men tion of Irvi
n gM . F ried
: in the N ovemberPM C prodigyreview
: broughtba ck a storm of memories. I
: gottokn ow Bud,a s he w a s ca lled,in
: 19 71 a fterpurcha sin gmysecon d set
: of spea k ers,the IM F StudioII(ca lled
• the T LS50 in Bri
tai
n ). W hen Igotthem
: home Ipulled offthe grilles a n d loa n d
• behold,the midra n ge con e,w hich Iw a s
: expectin g tobe pla sticlike the w oofer,
• w a s ma de of pa per. Ica lled up my
: dea lerM elSchilli
n g (a n otherlon gtime
: a udioperson a lity) atM usicA n d Soun d
: a n d he told me toca llBud.
Bud told me he kn ew of the problem
: a n d tobrin gthe loudspea k ers tohis
: labora torythatSaturday. Itturn ed out
: thatthe midra n ges w ere pa perbutw ere
■ supposed toha ve been coa ted w ith a
: PVA da mpin gcompoun d,the sa me clea r
: coa tin gused on bextren e drivers to
: min imise rin gin g. A ccordin gtoBud,the
■ mon th myspea k ers w ere ma n ufa ctured
• the person respon sible fora pplyin gthe
: PVA decided toskip the coa tin gthin kin g
:i
tlook ed ‘
ugly’. T hatSa turda yled toa
• lon gfrien dship un ti
lBud’s dea th.
:
W hile Bud w a s proba blythe ultima te
: tra n smission lin e a dvoca te,J ohn W ri
ght
: w a s the IM F design er. A ccordin gtoBud,
: his sea rch fortra n smission lin e spea k ers
: follow ed a meetin gw ithA rthurHa ddy
of Decca in the mid ’6 0s. A rthurtold
him he’d ha d togive up his Q ua d ESL
spea k ers beca use Decca could n ow put
30dB of dyn a micra n ge on to a n LP a n d
thatw a s beyon d the ESL’s a bilities. Bud
a sk ed him fora dvice a n d A rthurtold him
tolook in totra n smission lin e spea kers.
T hatled Bud toRadford,w hich w a s
w orkin gon tra n smission lin es.
Some yea rs laterBud believed
Ra dford w a s rea dytosupplyhim w ith
spea k ers a n d he a n n oun ced them for
a show . U n fortun ately,theyw eren ’t
quite ready. Bud ha d been w orkin g
w ith ca rtridge en gin eerJ ohn W ri
ght
so he a sk ed him a bouta suita ble
repla cemen tspea k erforthe even t.
J ohn suggested usin g a K EF Con certo
ki
ta n d developin g a tra n smission lin e
ca bin etfori
t.A n d thatw a s the spea k er
presen ted atthe show un derthe IMF
bra n d n a me,w hich Bud ha d used
before w hen importin gBri
ti
shproducts
toA merica . M odifica tion s,such a s
repla cin gthe K EF T 27 tw eeterw ith a
Celestion HF 1300 tw eetera n d Celestion
HF 200 supertw eeterfollow ed,resultin g
in the four-w a yIM F M on itorspea ker.
AllenE delstein,vi
aemail
K enK esslerreplies: M yonlydirect
experienceoftransmissionlinespeakers,
ABO VE: L ateriteratio n o fth e U K ’s IM FT L S50
lo ud speaker,so ld in th e U S asth e IM F Stud io II
waybackwhen,wasrestrictedtoIM Fs
;
- oh,tohaveapairofSuperCompacts!
:
- andeventuallytheTDLswhichwere
•
theirnaturalheirsafterIM F disappeared, i
I recallbeing especiallyimpressed by
•
thefloorstandingTLS 80 ,which delivered :
cavernousbass.Today,forthoseunnerved •
•
bythethoughtofbuying 50 -year-old
•
loudspeakers, FalconA cousticsactually
:
manufacturesnew IM F models,whichI
:
hopetoauditionsomeday,whilei
thas
:
f
l
replacementsforboth IM F and TDL
•
drivers.Ironicall
y,theR adfordspeakers
:
•
thatI owned, lovedand foreverregret
:
sellingwereTristar9 0 s,whichwerenot
•
transmissionlinesatal
l
.
4
In p raise ofa ‘Budget Esoterica’buy
AFFORDABLE DAC DELIVERS IN SP ADES,BU T IS A T RANSP O RT T HE M O RE CRU CIAL CO M P O NENT IN A DIG IT AL REP LAY CHAIN?
: Iw a n ted tobuya DA C tobe used w ith
: the digita loutputfrom a CD player.
: A fterrea din gK en K essler’s ‘
Budget
; Esoterica ’ review of M usica lF idelity’s
S M X -DA C [HFN Oct’20]Ipurcha sed on e.
■ A ftercon n ectin gi
ttomysystem Icould
• n ota gree more w ith K en ’s sta temen t
: that‘
a bove al
l
,the soun d is gen uin ely
a ston ishin g’. Ia m in trigued bythe fa ct
thatthe M X -DA C prettymuch con sists
solelyof ICs,in cludin gIC op-a mps,
yetstillsoun ds so good. It’s especia lly
impressive w ithfema le voca ls. Sotha n ks
forthe deta iled a n d a ccura te review ,n ot
tomen tion the techn ica lin forma ti
on .
JohnE,vi
aemail
ABO VE:T h e M X -DAC uses a P CM 1 7 95 DAC ch ip,sam p le rate co n verteran d o p-am ps allf
ro m T l
116
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
DECEM BER 2023
K enK esslerreplies: Thisisthebasis
ofoneofthegreatpub debates(do
audiophilescongregateinpubs?)which
hasparallelsinanalogue.Foreverthere
wi
l
lrageargumentsastowhichpart
ofavi
nylsourcemattersmost- deck,
arm, cartridgeorphono stage- while
it’ssimplerindigital.W hichisthemore
crucialcomponent, transportorDA C?
I maintaina30 -years-old-plusM arantz
CD 12/DA 12 and am loathtochoose
eithersection asmoreimportantthanthe
other.M yguttellsmeit’stheDA C,but
thetransportusesaP hilipsCDM 1 drive,
whichsomeclaim tobethebestever.M y
bucketlisttransport- 1 boughtaP SA udio
P erfectW ave [ H FNA ug ’0 9 ] asmyfi
nal
discspinner- awaitsitsnaturalpartner,
theDirectStream II DA C.Itwasbuythat,
ormorefinewine.Thewineislosing.
.
.
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li ■
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ILike a ’Stone
«
: READER ENJOYS K OET SU P ICK -U P REVIEW
4
*
; T han k you foryourn o-n on sen se,
: ha n ds-on review of the K oetsu
Cora lston e Platin um Series ca rtridge
[HFN A ug ’23]. A s fara s Ikn ow ,yours
is the fi
rstrea lreview of this pick-up.
Isea rched the In tern eta n d the
closestIca me toa review w a s w ha t
Ica n on lydescribe a s a ra g-ba g of
hyperbole w ithoutrea lcon ten t.
Y ourdescription of the ca rtridge’s
soun d is veryclose tomyow n
experien ce,though w ith on e sma ll
ca vea t-i
tis quite arm depen den t. It
sa n gin a F idelityResea rch F R-64x,
soun ded a bitun rema rka ble in a n
SM E V yetproduced formida ble ba ss
in a SA EC W E 506 /30.1love the fa ct
you published rea lmea suremen ts a s
w ell. Veryuseful. K udos!
TK R ealfsen,B ergen,Norw ay
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A
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t
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ABO VE:T h e K o etsu Co ralsto n e M C uses a
bo ro n can tileveran d a p latin um m ag n et
*
I
V
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P aulM illerreplies: The20 gFidelity
R esearch FR -64fx and silver-wired ’x
offeralower(butst
i
l
l‘high’)effective
massthanthe35gFR -64s[ H FN M ay
’82] and 12i
nSA E C W E50 6/30 .Both
armsarefar‘heavier’thanthe 10 -11g
SM E V andarguablybettersuitedto
substantial,low complianceM Cs.
*
#
*
*
*
»
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<
1
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Am strad am usem ent
‘P RICELESS T EX T OF ’7 0S AD T RU M P ET ING T HE CO M P ANY’S T P 1 2D T U RNT ABLE
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Old-timers like myselfw illha ve
smiled to see the A mstra d turn ta ble
a d thata ccompa n ied Steve Ha rri
s’s
Opin ion piece in the Octoberissue
on the w a ythe formercompa n y’s
T P 12D turn ta ble w a s ‘
in spired’ by
the design of the Rega Plan etdeck.
Buti
tw a s a pitythe picture of the
19 76 a d w a sn ’tbig en ough torea d
the priceless text. F orthe ben efitof
youn gerrea ders,this ran a s follow s:
‘
T he T P 12D ha s ta ken a deca de to
develop,a n d a lthough con tempora ry
in looks,its design is prin cipa lly
fun ction a la n d of prime importa n ce.
T he tri-lateralperiphera llyw eighted
platterproduces a n equipon dera te
ta n gen tialcoun terba la n cin gforce;
the platterbein g solid die-ca st,
combin es topermiti
ttorevolve at
more con sta n tspeed,limitin gw ow
a n d fl
uttertoa min imum.’
D Sperring,Surbiton
SteveH arrisreplies: TheA mstrad
turntableappearedwellaftertheR ega
P lanet,whichwaslaunchedin 19 7 3.
Laterinthe 19 7 0 s,therecameamore
elegantecho oftheP lanet'svisual
theme,butinaturntableasdifferentas
couldbefrom anyR ega.TheJBE Series
3[
H F/VJan ’ll] sported animpressivelookingplatterconsistingofsix pods
mountedonasupporting discand
rotatedbyaM atsushitadirect-drive
motor.Ini
tsoriginalform,theJBE was
builtintoaheavyplinthofW elshslate.
JBE wentoutofbusinessin 19 82.
Extrem e?
4
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ABO VE:T h e JBE Series 3 turn table w ith its slate p lin th an d p latterf
eaturin g six‘po d s’
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
117
KR@ N OS
)R M U S IC "
i f ...the best of all decks with
none of the downsides. W
- Alan Sirco m ,HiFi+
ifi The 30.7s deliver sound
quality competitive with
(and in some respects
superior to) loudspeakers
ranging from two to nearly
ten times their price. M
R aidho acou siics
Pick an album, play
track one, intending to
listen to only that track.
Five tracks later you are
still mesmerised.
f i The company has come up with a design
that’s both easy to use and capable of excellent
performance across a wide sweep of musical
genres. 99
-An d rew Everard ,Lab:P aulMiller,h i-f
in ew s
t:+ 44 (O)56 0 20 5 4669
e:info@ decentau dio.co.u k
w w w .decentau dio.co.u k
D EC EN T AU D IO
sou nd distr ib u tio n
O FFICIAL U K DIST RIBU T O R
VIN T A GE HI-F I
B&O Beomaster20 0 0
With the Danish company in the doldrums come the early ’70s could this reimagined
receiver with phase-locked loop decoder deliver on its promise of ‘high fidelity’ sound?
Review: Tim Jarman Lab: Paul Miller
ang & O lufsen’s first m ove into the
w orld of serious hi-fi cam e in 1 9 6 7
w ith the introduction ofthe Beolab
5000 am p lifier and Beom aster
5000 tuner [HFN D ec ’1 2]
.These defined
the Europ ean state of the art at the tim e
and w ere as successful as their high p rices
allow ed.The com p any then distilled
these tw o units into the Beom aster 3000,
w hich offered sim ilar qualities at a m ore
accessible p rice. It lacked the sheer p ow er
and versatility ofthe Beolab 5000 but sold
strongly throughout a long p roduction run.
These p roducts created a new sector
in the com p any’s range - ‘high fidelity’.
The m odels w ere aim ed at the serious
listener and offered high p ow er outp ut,
advanced facilities and w hat the designers
considered to be the best p ossible sound.
B
W IDE RA N GIN G
This ‘high fidelity’line got offto a good
start but floundered in 1 9 7 3 w hen the
Beom aster 4000 w as introduced.This w as
intended as a Beolab rep lacem ent and w as
based on a m odified 3000 chassis, up rated
to p roduce 2x6 0W .Yet its sound w as
lifeless and unexciting. The 6 000 4channel
receiver [HFN Sep ’21 ]w as not as dynam ic
as it could have been either, suggesting
that som ething had gone seriously am iss in
the design of B&O’s range-top p ing m odels.
It w as against this backdrop that the
Beom aster 2000 review ed here ap p eared.
Launched in late 1 9 7 5 and new from the
ground up , it saw designer Jacob Jensen’s
beloved ‘low and w ide’look introduced
to the serious end of the range.And there
w ere p lenty of noveltechnical ideas inside
too. B&O ’s circuitry typ ically evolved slow ly
across inter-related m odels but m ost
ofthe 2000 had not been seen before.
For exam p le,the AM radio section w as
B&O’s first IC-based design and included a
ceram ic filter to give p recise tuning. The
FM section also m ade extensive use of ICs
and included five p re-set stations and a
sop histicated active AFC system ,w hich
ensured p erm anently accurate tuning.
The key innovation, how ever,w as the
p hase-locked loop stereo decoder - B&O’s
: ABOVE:T h is larg e an d f
lush -m o un ted f
lyw h eel
:i
sused to tun e th e Beo m aster2000’srad io .T h e
: co lo ured lig h tsto th e lef
to fth e w h eelin d icate
*
• th e sig n alstren g th an d tun in g balan ce
*
: first. Even the m ore exp ensive m odels in
«: the range still used the older regenerative
• typ e, so in term s of radio p erform ance
: the 2000 w as a big step ahead.Yet w hile
: im p ressive, none ofthese features w ere
: w hat m ade the Beom aster 2000 sp ecial.
«
iLOW RIDER
: The really im p ortant change w as that it
: w as B&O’s first am p lifier to use D C coup ling
betw een the outp ut
transistors and sp eaker
load. D isp ensing w ith the
transform ers or cap acitors
that p reviously sat betw een
these tw o elem ents
m eant the am p lifier’s
outp ut im p edance could
s
-
L EFT :T h e Beo m aster2000
i
sa po w erf
ulun itan d th e
am plif
iers n eed plen ty o f
co o lin g w h en w o rkin g h ard .
No te th e g en ero us h eatsin ks
atth e rear,h id d en f
ro m casual
view by a g rille abo ve th em
120
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
DECEMBER 2 02 3
• them from everyw here else in the design
: w here it w as p ractical. In the end, only
: six rem ained, w hich w ere necessary for
• p ow er sup p ly filtering w here no other
: cap acitor technology could yield the values
• needed.W hat’s m ore, allthe cap acitors
: in the signal p ath w ere either tantalum
CA PA CIT OR CRU SA DE
: or film typ es.W hile a fam iliar enough
: p erform ance am p lifier technique today, it
D C-coup led am p lifiers had been m ade
p ossible by the introduction
w as a largely unexp lored
idea in dom estic hi-fi in
of m atched p airs of
com p lem entary p ow er
the m id 1 9 7 0s.
The styling had m oved
transistors in the early
on since the days of the
1 9 7 0s. B&O w as not to
Beom aster 1 200 w hose
be rushed into p roducing
a D C-coup led design but
tuning control looked
like a giant slide rule.The
the 2000 p roved to be
2000 used a larger version
thoughtfully engineered and
of the flush-m ounted flyw heelfirst seen
rugged w hen it did eventually ap p ear.The
in the 6 000 4channel. The tem p tation to
outp ut transistors chosen w ere high-gain
D arlington typ es, a class of com p onent
use electronic signal routing w as resisted
w ith function selection being p erform ed
B&O had extensive exp erience of given
their w idesp read use in a p revious series of by oversized p ush buttons.These too w ere
flush w ith the fascia w hen not in use.
low er-p ow ered,AC-coup led m odels.
M ost Beom aster 2000s w ere finished
This w as not the end of the story,
in m att black anodised alloy w ith either
how ever. H aving elim inated the large
teak or rosew ood veneered cabinetw ork,
alum inium electrolytic cap acitors in
series w ith the loudsp eaker outp uts the
but lim ited num bers w ere p roduced w ith
silver alloy over w hite. These
designers then system atically elim inated
are highly p rized by collectors
today.All B&O equip m ent from
। the 1 9 7 0s is stylish, but the
Beom aster 2000 takes this
be reduced [see PM ’s Lab Rep ort, p l25]
and substantially constant in resp ect to
frequency.This, in turn, p aid dividends in
term s ofthe dam p ing factor that could be
achieved at the sp eaker interface and the
quality of bass that could be rep roduced.
Itwasspecial
becausei
twas
B&O ’sfirstDCcoupledamp'
: ABOVE:Havin g allth e co n tro ls o n to p w as an
: un usuallayo utf
o ra stereo receiverin th e
: m id -’7 0s butth e Beo m aster2000’sease o fuse
: d em o n strates th e ad van tag es o fth is layo ut
■
■
: to the next level. D esp ite its m echanical
• controls it hasn’t dated as m uch as som e
: other B&O m odels - house guests w ho
• clap p ed eyes on it during m y auditioning
: assum ed it w as less than ten years old.
iF LU SHED W IT H SU CCESS
: The Beom aster 2000 is also a delight to
: use - B&O described the p ush buttons as
• ‘sup er sm ooth’and they truly are.The flush
: tuning flyw heel is nicely w eighted w hile
• the tuning balance and stereo indicator
: lam p s associated w ith it don’t so m uch
flicker as flow , as ifthey are op erated by
som e ingenious arrangem ent ofviscous
fluid. Five p re-set stations are p rovided on
FM ,their setting m ade by a group of tiny
scales under a sliding cover on the right of
the unit.A sim ilar cover on the left gives
access to a tap e 1 /2 sw itch and a loudness
button (w hich is best left sw itched off).
Com p ared to the other controls, the
sliders for the am p lifier are a bit stiff and
jerky in use. Connections are p rovided for a
: turntable and tw o tap e recorders, a p air of
BELOW :T h e co m p lete Beo system 2000 in
w h ite (lef
t).Rareth en ,d esirable n o w .Stan d ard
f
in ish esw ere eith erteak o rro sew o o d (belo w )
DECEMBER 2 02 3
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
121
SU BSCRIPTIO N O FFER
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Orcall01 858 438 446
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VIN T A GE HI-F I
headp hones and tw o p airs of loudsp eakers.
The turntable inp ut is m atched to B&O’s
ow n m oving-iron p ick-up s but these are
sim ilar enough to m odern M M typ es for
there not to be com p atibility p roblem s.
H aving tw o tap e sockets gives a useful
p lace to connect a CD p layer, but this is
best p laced in ‘Tap e 1 ’and the recorder
in ‘Tap e 2’otherw ise CD -to-tap e transfers
cannot be m ade.The loudsp eaker sockets
are arranged so that one p air is m uted
w hen the headp hones are connected and
the other p air is not.The direct (sp eakers
2) is the best choice for critical listening,
but less convenient in a dom estic setting.
B&O claim ed D C-coup ling elim inated
the sw itch-on ‘thum p ’w ith loudsp eakers
that em p loyed cap acitors.This is true, but
there’s an odd soft thud heard a second or
so after sw itching off.The Beom aster 2000
lacks a p rotection relay and so the sp eakers
are kep t safe by four fuses in the sup p lies
to the outp ut stages. B&O recom m ended
that the loudsp eakers used had a rating
of at least 40W for this to be effective.
Finally, like all B&O designs ofthis era,the
am p lifier is op tim ised for a 4ohm load.
T IM LIST EN S
Even after the briefest of listens it’s clear
that B&O’s designers m ust have celebrated
a w elcom e return to form
w ith the Beom aster 2000.
1
The receiver still has the
fam iliar luxurious B&O sound
but this does not stop it being
a lively and vivid p erform er.
It im p roves noticeably on
the Beom aster 3000 and
com p letely trounces the
4000, desp ite being a third less p ow erful.
The technology em p loyed, w hich w as
focused on ap p ealing to the ears ofthe
audiop hile, had done the trick - this
p articular m odel is a real hidden gem .
Perhap s the 2000’s m ost attractive
quality is the w ay it can p lay softly for
late-night listening and render detail
p erfectly but also p roduce effortless
am ounts of p ow er for a genuine concert
hall exp erience w hen required. It lacks the
clip p ing indicator ofthe Beom aster 4400
receiver [HFN Jun ’1 2]so it is up to the
listener to judge w hen the p ow er m argin
is all used up . But things do not begin to
sound rough untilthe control is alm ost at
the top ofthe scale and the
m usic is deafeningly loud.
U nless your listening room is
very large this receiver has
m ore than enough p ow er
to cover m ost tastes. Noise
p erform ance is fair too,
there being som e hiss to be
heard w hen the control is
p ushed beyond about ‘7 ’on the scale, but
at norm alvolum e levels the background is
as good as silent.
: ABOVE:T h e in terio ro fth e un iti
sn eatan d w ell
■o rd ered .No teth e space atth e to p o fth e ch assis
: to h o useth e tw o extra p o w eram plif
iers o fth e
• Q uad raph o n icversio n ,th e Beo m aster3400
: that the up p erm ost treble w as slightly
: m uted,though, as the snares and
: p ercussion didn’t sp arkle and shim m er in
• quite the w ay Iknow they can.
:
H ow ever,the effect w as less obvious
: w hen listening to BBC R3 via the receiver’s
: built-in FM tuner section (9 0.3M H z) and
• so Ican only susp ect that the very top
: end is going astray in the p ream p section.
: Nevertheless,the roll-off is slight enough
: to be cancelled by selecting a brighter• sounding source. In m y case, sw ap p ing a
: Philip s CD 1 04 [HFN Ap r ’1 4]for a Technics
: SL-P1 200 [HFN Aug ’1 3]did the trick.
:
W here the 2000 really scored w as
T IM E T O U N W IN D
• w hen it cam e to its m idrange balance and
: neutrality.V ocals w ere p erfectly p laced
Sade’s album D iam ond Life [Ep ic CD EPC
26 044]satisfied w ith its cream y saxop hone : in the m ix, being neither p rom inent
and rich, chew y bass lines w hen p layed
: nor recessed.This m ade for an instantly
through the 2 000.1 did get the im p ression • attractive sound, and one that p roved
: very easy to relax into.This m ay seem an
• obvious requirem ent, but there are m any
: am p s out there that are less com p elling.
Thesax was
creamyand
thebassrich
and chewy’
jK EEP Y OU R DIST A N CE
: On a larger scale,the slim Beom aster 2000
: p roved easily cap able of p reserving both
• the sp ace and dram a offull-scale orchestral
: p ieces. M ozart’s ‘Serenata Notturna’p layed
: by the Berliner Philharm oniker, conducted G
*
• L EFT :A g raph icalrepresen tatio n o fa co m plete
: system assug g ested in th e o w n er’sm an ual.T h e
• reco m m en d ed co m po n en ts are th e Beo g ram
: 2000 turn table an d Beo vo x37 02 lo ud speakers
DECEMBER 2 02 3
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
123
HIG H-P ERFORM AN C E S OU N D & V IS ION
MAX I
MU M I
MPACT !
W hy S am su ng’s75in Q N 90 0 C TV isan 8 K stu nner
. INEVERYISSUE
Kitreview s,m ovies & TV,accessories,system s,insight,
opinion,com petitions & m ore
w w w .hom ecinem achoice.com facebook.com /hom ecinem achoice
@ hccm ag
REPORT
VIN T A GE HI-F I
AB OV E: Rearview ofthe receiver show sth atal
lthe connectorsareto D IN standards
and,asever w ith B& O,thatthere islittle room arou ndthe socketsfor bu l
k y pl
u gs
by H er ber tV on Karaj
an [Alb inoni:
Adagio/Pachelb el: Canon; D eu tsche
G ram m ciphon 4 13 30 9 -2], show ed
how a car efu lly designed am plifier
can preserve the im pression of
distance b etw een the per for m er s
ifthe sou rce com ponentis u p to
the task ofr ecover ing it. S tereo
sou ndstaging w as al
so excellent,as
w as the r ender ing offine textu r al
detailar ou nd the strings.
■ a u niq u e pr oposition, and one w ell
: w or th seek ing ou tto hear.
:BU Y IN G SECON DHA N D
di
• S ince the B eom aster 20 0 0 did not
: sel
lin the sam e q u antities as the
■ 30 0 0 and 30 0 0 -2,good exam pl
es
: can be difficu ltto find. They are
■ cer tainly stu rdy u nits b u tare not
: w ithou ttheir probl
em s. The cover
: over the pre-settu ning controls
: sl
ides offand is easil
y lost,spoiling
SIN GU LA R A PPEA L
■ the sl
eek appearance. The tu ning
: dr ive for the flyw heeldisc can al
so
After m any m or e hou rs oflistening
■ failw hen the plastic inside that
Ifou nd m ysel
fconclu ding that
: hol
ds the pu l
leys for the cord drive
despite being nearly 5 0 years old,
e
the B eom aster 20 0 0 has the sor tof - disintegr ates. Repairs are possibl
: b u ttheyTe notstraightfor w ar d.
sou nd thatm ak es it appr opr iate for
M eanw hile,the circu itfor the
u se in a m ain system . Itm ay l
ack the ■
: red and green indicator l
am ps by
finalper fection ofthe B eom aster
: the disc is u nu su ally com plex. This
440 0 [
HF/V D ec '12]and doesn’t
: req u ires al
lthe l
am ps (and the one
feelq u ite as specialto ow n as the
■ inside the tu ning pointer ) notonly
B eol
ab 5 0 0 0 {althou gh itis l
ess
colou r ed sou nding w hen com par ed : to be intactb u tto be ofexactly the
directly), bu tithas no obviou s sonic i r ightr ating ifit's to w or k atall.
:
Electronically speak ing,itis the
vices. Ital
so saw B ang & O l
u fsen
: FM radi
o thatseem s to su ffer m ost
escape the doldr u m s as far as the
■
: problem s. The FM discr im inator and
sou nd q u ality ofits lar ger m odel
s
- tu ning balance indicator have to be
w as concer ned.
W hen the 20 0 0 w as r eplaced by : setu p cor r ectly for the AFC system
the B eom aster 220 0 in late 1977
• and the stereo decoder to w or k ,
: and they seem to dr iftover tim e.
m any ofits novelideas w er e lost,
* Accu r ate instru m ents are necessary
in par ticu lar the decision to avoid
: to br ing them back into l
ine. The
the u se ofalu m iniu m electroltyic
* am plifier sections have pr oved to be
capacitor s. This m ak es the 20 0 0
: r eliable, bu tit’svitalal
lthe fu ses are
• ofthe cor r ecttype and r ating. O
B& O'sfirstD C -cou p!ed tu ner/am pl
ifier identical
l
y m atches the
B eom aster 240 0 -2 [HFN D ec '19 )for raw pow er ou tpu tbu t
otherw ise del
ivers avery distinctive technicalperform ance.
In practice ou r circa-1975 testsam pl
e su stained a m axim u m
continu ou s ou tpu tof2x35W j
'8 ohm (40 W j
'8 ohm . one channel
driven)and2x55W /4ohm w ith su fficientreserve to su stain
transientpeaks (
1k Hz /10 m sec/<1% THD )of42W ,74W . 33W and
18 W into S ohm ,4ohm ,2ohm and 1ohm ioads,respectivel
y
[
see G raph 1,bel
ow ). Once again,the 4.3A cu rrentheadroom is
m odest,su ggesting the 20 0 0 i
sbestu sedw ith speakers ratedat
6ohm andabove,andofgenerou s sensitivity.
Otherw ise,the 20 0 0 m ay be D C cou pl
ed bu tits l
ow bass
response isactivel
y fil
tered,fal
l
ing from < O.l
dB JW OHz to
-2.2dB /20 Hz and< 6dB i'11Hz . j
u stas its HF rol
l
-offisinfl
u enced
by the bu ffering ofitsvol
u m e control
.W ith the vol
u m e sl
ider
atm axim u m (35.8 dB gain)the response i
sIl
attest- reaching
-0 .2dB /20 k Hz and-3.8 dB /10 0 k Hz - w hil
e atredu cedvol
um e
positions (this isgain,notou tpu tieve!)the HF response is
progressivel
y m u ted. O u tpu tim pedance isal
so infl
u enced,bu t
even the l
ow est0 .3-0 .5ohm (20 Hz -20 k Hz )w il
lstil
lcau se som e
fu rther response m odification in l
ine w ith the sw ings in speaker
l
oad. D istortion ism ore predictabl
e,a steady increase in l
evel
from Q .0 16% /1W to 0 .0 45^1 C W and0 .0 9S atthe rated 3C W /
8 ohm (al
l1kHz ),andw ith freq u ency to 0 .0 9^1 OkHz and 0 .14 ^
20 kHz [
al
lat10 W )8 ohm ~ see redtrace. G raph 2 bel
ow ). Noise
isl
ow too at-78 dB V - testam entnotonl
y to the design ofB & O’s
l
inear pow er su ppl
y bu tal
so the el
egantcircu itl
ayou t- al
:lof
w hich secu res aw orthy 8 6.6dB A-w td S/N ratio (re.OdBW ). P M
ABOV E:D ynam ic pow er ou tpu tvs. distor tion u p to 1%
THD into 8 ohm (bl
ack trace),4ohm (red),2ohm (cyan)
and lohm (green) speak er l
oads. M ax cu r r entis 4.2A
Ba n g & Olufsen
i w
iw
n
io *
■«*
Fr«44tn«-Y »
nu&ouno
The B eom aster 20 0 0 m ay not be
one ofB & O ’ sm ostm em or ab le
designs b u t in per for m ance
ter m s Itcer tainly rank s as one
ofthe com pany’sb est. Ifyou
are k een to avoid the har d and
b r ittle sou nd ofsom e am plifier s
r eleased ar ou nd this per iod then
the sm ooth-sou ndsng 20 0 0 is
w ellw or th consider ing. The top
q u ality r adio section is a bonu s,
w hich m ak es this slick -look ing
r eceiver even m or e com pelling.
SoundQ ual
i
t
y:75%
AB OV E:N u S ou ndadfrom HfiV Feb *76
show sthe B eom aster 20 0 0 at£269.50
■■■■■■■
ABOV E:D istor tion versu s freq u ency from 5Hz -40 k Hz
(1W /8 ohm ,bl
ack )and 20 Hz -20 k Hz (10 W /8 ohm , red)
HI-F IN EW S SPECIF ICA T ION S
P o w ero utp ut(<1^ HD >B au hin)
35W ./55W
Dyn am ic p o w er(<1^ HD ,8 f4 f2lll
u hm )
42W / ?4W /33W / 18 W
----------------------------------------------------------1
------------------------------------O utp ut im p.(20 H2-20 k Hz /10 0 kHz )
0 .28 -0 .SOu hrn / 0 .48 ohm
Freq .resp.(20 Hz -20 k Hz /10 0 k Hz ,OdBW )
-2.2dB to^0 .22dB /-3.8 dB
In p utsen sitivity (
For OdBW pOW )
44m V f245rnV
A-w td
ratio (
re. 0 dB W /3W )
f10 l
.4dB
Disto rtio n (20 Hz -20 kHz . 10 W f
8 ohm )
0 .0 25-0 .14^
li
P o w erco n sum ptio n (I
die/raked ou tpu t)
ITW / 111W
Dim en sio n s (
W HD ) /W eig h t
68 5x75x270 rnm f8 .2kg
D EC EMBER 20 23
w w w .hifinew s.co.u k
125
F RO M T HE VA U LT
E nlightenedorU ltralink?
Martin Colloms hears two outboard DACs featuring 20-bit chips in custom
circuits - Enlightened Audio Designs’ DSP7000 and the PS Audio Ultralink
H i-Fi
New s
Each m o n th
HFN w ill brin g
yo u an a rticle
fro m o urvast
a rch ive o f
fea tures an d
review s fro m
yesteryea r
m erican sp ecialists, like
their U K counterp arts,
continue to develop new
variations on the available
: digitaltechnology to p roduce
: DACs w ith audiop hile ap p eal. This
: review covers tw o ofthe m ore
i intriguing exam p les, using som e
: ofthe m ost advanced devices
■
: available to designers.
: The Enlightened Audio
1
j D esigns D SP7 000 is
• based on the 20-bit
: Analog D evices chip ,
I■ w hile PS Audio has
• chosen an U ltra Analog
: dual 20-bit converter.
■
• W hat bearing the tw o
: choices oftechnology w ill have on
■
• sound quality rem ains to be seen!
H ill
N EW S
: to ap p ear is the D SP7 000 DAC.The
*• standard unit review ed here has a
:♦ p hono socket outp ut at a fixed level
• of 2V . D igital inp uts include tw o
; coaxial and one Toslink op tical w hile
a reclocked, buffered
digital outp ut is
p rovided. M ains inp ut
is via an IEC threep in term inal. Extra
cost op tions include
fully balanced
audio outp uts w ith
sw itchable level, p lus
: the AT&T glass fibre op tical interface
: for digital connection.
♦
:
W hen p ow ered up ,the inp ut
• selection m ust be m ade, as this unit
:EA D DSP7000
: Beginning in the audio business as
: lacks auto sw itching. Indication is
• given of the inp ut selected, w hether
• an up grader of Rotel and other CD
: p layers, Enlightened Audio D esigns : the signal has been locked, if it has
• (EAD), based in Iow a, rap idly gained • em p hasis, if data errors are p resent,
: exp ertise in the field of digital audio : and finally w hether absolute p hase
• technology. It now p roduces its
• inversion has been selected. Inside
• ow n equip m ent, and the first unit
: it is p ossible to configure the p hase
Theability
t
oswitchthe
oversampling
ratesurprises’
MU SIC IN
T HE
BANK
NA KA M ICH I’S j
H IG H -END
CD M U LTI
PLAYER
the sou nd
OF OCC
■
A CRIT ICAL ANALYSIS
tu b es or
SOU D ST AT E?
MICHAELSON
VERSU S CJ
HONG K ONG
SHOW REPORT
LOU DSP EAK ERS
CAST LE.W IL5ON, MBl
W IN 1
TA M A H A CINEM A DSP SYSTEM
1 26
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
: ABOVE:T h e EAD DSP 7 000 DAC [to p]
■
• co st£1 350 o n laun ch w h ile PSAud io ’s
: U ltralin kw o uld h ave setyo u back £2499
DECEMBER 2023
VI
NTAGE
sw itch to m atch a given p ream p or
p ow er am p lifier inversion and thus
correct the system via this source.
The unit is heavily built from steel
and alloy sections, the electronics
are soundly constructed and it tip s
the scales at 22lbs.
: RIG HT :PSAud io ’s
F IN E W ORDS
The D SP7 000 is m ultibit and
em p loys a p air of selected 20-bit
Analog D evices A D I8 6 2 chip s,
w ith indep endent localvoltage
references.These are fed 20-bit
digital w ords from the high p recision
Burr-Brow n D F1 7 00P filter, w hich
is a high-order, low -rip p le design of
1 9 9 tap s, originating at NPC. Low
jitter (<200p sec) is claim ed by using
the CrystalA D IC C S8 41 2.
A p rop rietary asp ect ofthe
design is the ‘Acculinear’circuitry
contained in a chip com p osed
p rim arily of discrete devices rather
than a fully linked integrated
circuit. This is claim ed to execute
the 1 /V conversion step w ith m uch
low er overshoot and distortion on
transients than the usual choice of
an integrated op -am p .A sw eeter,
m ore natural sound is said to result.
D e-em p hasis is p assively sw itched
by relay.The outp ut am p lifiers and
filter stages use fast AD 8 41 op -am p s,
adjusted for offset and D C coup led
at the outp ut. Non invasive relay
m uting is em p loyed.
Another surp rising feature is
the facility for the user to sw itch
the oversam p ling rate betw een 4x
or 8 x.This is a fascinating detail.
As sup p lied it w as set to 4x, but
: G ran d stan d o ver
: PaulM cG o w an
• sm ilesatth e
: cam era d urin g th e
j 2023 U K Hi-Fi
: Sh o w Liveeven t,
: w h ich to o k place
: atth e Asco t
: th e lastw eeken d
■in Septem ber.
■Paulco -f
o un d ed
: th e co m pan y w ith
: Stan W arren in
1 97 3,sh ippin g its
:f
irstpro d uct- a
■ph o n o pream p
N
O
S
P
M
I
S
W
E
R
D
N
A
:
O
T
O
H
P
: so ld d irectto
• co n sum ers- th e
:f
o llo w in g year
• in theory 8 x is better, since this
: m oves alias noise further out ofthe
• band and im p roves high-frequency
: resolution at low levels. In p ractice,
• at the higher rate the D AC is w orked
:■ harder,w ith the ratio betw een
• settled outp ut data and sam p ling
: sw itching transients im p aired. Four
■ tim es oversam p ling im p roves the
: ratio in favour of data p recision.
BELOW :Orig in al
pag esf
ro m th e
July ’92 issueo f
HFN in w h ich
M artin Co llo m s
co m pared - an d
lab tested -th e
EAD DSP 7 000 an d
PSAud io U ltralin k
D/A co n verters
■I
!POW ER U N PLU GGED
• The sonic difference is subtle and
: the user is left to m ake up their
• ow n m ind on this unusualfacility.
t The sw itch requires access to the
• interior and the m ains term inals on
£
: the back ofthe p ow er term inal are
«: not shrouded.This m eans that the
: p ow er cable should be detached
before undoing
any screw s.
An oversized
toroidal
transform er is
incorp orated,
w ith eight
secondaries
feeding sep arate
rectifier sections
and reservoirs
to aid isolation
betw een stages.
Eight chip
regulators feed
clean p ow er to
various stages.
The audio
p ath is m irror
sym m etrical,
effectively double
m ono from the
: digital filter onw ards.Top quality
: Tiffany audio connectors are fitted
• and the w hole unit suggests a
: careful, conscientious design.
j(P lA N A LOGU E A LLU RE
• The D SP7 000 w as tried on both
: 4x and 8 x oversam p ling m odes.
: On the form er the unit show ed
: an excep tionally sm ooth and w ell
• controlled nature, one that m ight
: w ell ap p ealto fans of analogue w ho
: are disturbed by the brightness and
: forw ardness of som e digital rep lay.
■ The m idrange had noticeably less
: glare than usualw ith natural string
: tone, and p leasant singing voice.
:
On the other hand,the treble
: sounded slightly softened, and
: although free of lisp y edges or
■ p ercep tible grain it also sounded
: rather dry. M ore air and sp arkle
• w ould have been w elcom e, and
: there w as p ercep tible reduction in
• atm osp here on fam iliar recordings.
:
H ow ever,the bass register
: sounded b ig-th is quality again
: aiding the im p ression of a full sound.
• Conversely,w hen p layed on system s
: w ith good bass attack,the D SP7 000
• bass show ed som e slow ness and
: heaviness, and the bass definition
: w ill be bettered by other digital
: decoders in this p rice range.
:
Stereo im ages show ed a natural,
: w ell balanced p ersp ective w ith good
• w idth. D ep th w as above average,
: but neither this nor transp arency
• w ere felt to be in the audiop hile
: class. Focus rated above average
• too. Sw itched to 8 x there w as a
: clear change. Now it sounded m ore G>
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
1 27
SU BSCRIPTIO N O FFER
i-fin
& Record Review
ELECT RIC D
P o lity's utti
W E T ype91 E th e ultim ate300B SET am plf
t
erW Z OSE
n erw verd g n ?
Han d 'tun
tX S
cecP
Atel
ier
X brem e
VIN YL ICO
co n stettatio n cen tauril
a u cf
icvecto rR Sa j t
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Ah a Aud io Alec
T +AM P 200
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Orcall01 8 58 438 446
LINES O PEN M O NDAYTO FRIDAY - 9 AM -6 PM
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F RO M T HE VA U LT
‘digital’- w hich in fact m ay not be
to alltastes. The treble w as m ore
sibilant,w ith a trace of lisp iness
and edge. In addition the m idrange
w as harder w ith a m ore forw ard
p resentation. Nevertheless,the
m id w ould still rate as w ell above
average in term s of neutrality.
On the p ositive side the dynam ics
im p roved to ‘good p lus’,the sound
being both clearer and m ore lively.
D efinition and detailw ere better,
and greater dep th and transp arency
w ere ap p arent.
CON CLU SION
O verall, set to 4x, the D SP7 000
has listener ap p eal on grounds of
its laid-back, sm ooth, analogue-like
character. Conversely, in absolute
term s, it is not of sp ecial m erit
desp ite the show y brochure and
p ersuasive technical hyp e. U ltim ately
Ip referred its p resentation on the 8 x
setting, and feel it is better value at
its p rice in the USA than in the UK.
fixed level and is available from high
quality p hono sockets or in balanced
form via XLR term inals.
A w ellfitted chassis has exp osed
term inals at m ains p otential on the
back ofthe inp ut filter/lEC socket;
P S A U DIO U LT RA LIN K
the exp osed fuse is also at m ains
PS Audio has w orked on a series of
p otential. After that grip e for the
benefit of service technicians, w e
digital decoders w hile its m ain claim
com e to tw o PC-m ounted m ains
to fam e is its latest m odel using a
transform ers w ith full isolation
costly 20-bit U ltra Analog stereo
m aintained betw een p rim ary and
D/A converter. U ntil recently,this
secondary.Three rectifier bridges
device had only been used in som e
feed a total of nine IC regulators.
exp ensive decoders, such as the big
Stax and the Levinson M odel 30.
Extensive subsidiary decoup ling is
The U ltralink is a neatly p resented p rovided at every stage.
After signal conditioning and
unit and in term s ofversatility and
features is rem iniscent ofthe British
logic selection the digital signal is
Audiolab 8 000D A C
unscram bled from
the serial S/PDIF
converter. From
1
code in the Yam aha
the front p anel it
YM 36 23 chip .
m ay be seen that it
The audio data go
rem ains p erm anently
directly to the NPC
in standby and
SM 58 03 high-order
there is no p ow er
digital filter, 8 x
sw itch for the m ains
oversam p led, and
sup p ly. M eanw hile,
• de-em p hasis is done in the digital
the U ltralink offers four digital
inp uts: one Toslink op tical, w ith a
: dom ain.W ith a 20-bit outp ut code,
*
second op tionalAT&T op tical (easily • to m axim ise the 1 6 -bit theoretical
: resolution,the signal goes straight
retrofitted w hen needed) and tw o
■
coaxials. O ther facilities include
; through to the selected Ultra Analog
absolute p hase inversion.
: dual 20-bit ladder-typ e or m ultibit
Indicators show w hich p rim e
: converter; this is laser trim m ed and
sam p ling rate is op erating: 32, 44.1 : calibrated to a very high accuracy.
or 48 kH z; w hether clean digital data • Post filtering is carried out in a p air
: of JRC 5532 integrated circuits.
is locked on; and finally w hether
■
the source has de-em p hasis active.
!HY BRID DRIVE
A final LED show s ifthe unit is on
irresp ective of the condition ofthe • The balanced outp ut am p lifiers
are hybrids,four com p lem entary
other lam p s,w hose states m ust
p ush-p ull outp ut transistors driven
be initialised w hen p ow er is first
by a JRC 5534. Thus there are four
connected. The audio outp ut is at
TheU ltralink
usesadual
20 -bitladder
typeconverter’
t
f
■ ABOVE:T h e
: U ltralin k spo rts
• LEDsth atin d icate
: th e sam plin g
• freq uen cy o fth e
in co m in g d ata,
■ sh o w ifith as been
: preem ph asised ,
• an d w h eth er
‘clean ’ d ig itald ata
• islo cked o n .T h e
: circuitry rem ain s
• po w ered aslo n g
: asth e un itis
: plug g ed in
:
■
•
:
•
:
•
:
•
:
■
:
■
J
:t
f
•
:
•
:
J
«:
t
f
•
• ofthese units to p rovide the tw o
: p hases for tw o channels. O ne p hase
: goes to the RCA p hono socket, the
: full balanced signal being available
• on XLR sockets.The build quality is
: high, p rom ising a long life,though
: Ido think PS Audio should consider
: fitting rather quieter transform ers
»f•t for our 50H z, 240V sup p lies.
:@
CLEA R T O HEA R
: Enjoying the sam e test conditions
: as the D SP7 000, areas addressed
: here included m ains sup p ly and
: cable, and the digital link cable. A
: selection of transp orts w ere used
■
f:t - M eridian’s 200 and 6 02, and an
: Accup hase D P7 0-V - w hile control
: units included the Kreil KSP-7 B and
: Conrad Johnson PF1 , a p assive P8<G
: p otentiom eter, and the current
: Audio Synthesis PAS-02.An ultim ate,
; if im p ractical,fixed-gain link w as
: achieved using a resistive attenuator
: in the balanced link to the p ow er
: am p lifiers,w hich w ere a Kreil KSA: 1 50B and M eridian 6 05.
:
So far m y findings for balanced
: m ode are inconclusive. O nly
• w here p oor local or m ains sup p ly
:ft electrical noise levels are p resent
; does there seem to be a significant
: advantage to balanced w orking.
• Com p arison decoders included the
: relevant section on the DP7 0-V ,
; the Enlightened Audio D SP7 000
: and the M icrom ega Duo BSII,w hile
■ exp erience from recent trials of
f:t the Theta, Roksan and Linn digital
: p roducts w as also brought to bear.
:
From the start it w as clear that
• this w as a great p erform er,w hich
: could claim m em bership of that &
DECEMBER 2023
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interconnect,RRP £749,in very
good condition,l
ook ing for £450
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u s postage. Tel
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CHORD
C horu s M k l
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bal
anced,1m £10 0 : 2m £150 ;
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anced, 1.5m
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ack pl
inth
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id,V al
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y w ith
u pdates,Ittok LVI
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u s,45rpm
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inth chips,few
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y very
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e. £1550 .
Tel
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M ogam ispeak er (N egl
ex 230 4 Au dience],3m £30 0 . Open to offers
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M ONS TER Z series cable,£150 .
SM E Model10
C hord C onnect2 interconnects,
£10 0 . Tel
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Su per Lu m ina five-pin to
five-pin interconnectfor £1150 and
fou r pin toX LR setfor £18 50 . I
n
excel
l
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ection from
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M CINTOSH
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and El
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ook ing to sel
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l
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pc@ m sn.com
ICO N Au dio FRM1 standm
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: M ICRO-SEIKIelectrostatic
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PLACING AN ADVERT ISEMENT IN T HE HI-FINEW S CLASSIFIEDS SECT ION
<
Fillin yo urad vertisem en tco py h ere_
:
Pl
easew rite the produ ctcategory nu m ber thatbestsu itsyou r eq u ipm entinthe
firstsq u are. The produ ctcategories are: 1-Accessories;2 -Am ps:3- C abl
es:
* I 4- C D /D VD pl
ayers;5 - D AC S:6 - S oftw are (C D s,recordsetc.):7 - Speakers;8 Tu ners:9 - Tu rntabl
es; 11-C om pl
ete System s; 12 - Miscel
l
aneou s: 13-W anted
■I
W e w il
linsertthe tel
ephone nu m ber you w antto appear in you r advertisem ent(s)
asm any tim es asi
sneeded.You onl
y needto fil
litI
n once and itonl
ycou nts as
onew ord- even ifyou ru n m u l
tipl
e adverts.
ELIPSON P restige Facet34F
speakers in new condition,tw o years
ol
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l
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to dow nsiz ing. £1450 . N ew price is
£2495. Tel
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B&W
D M60 1 52 l
ou dspeak ers,
£125. C el
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Both pairs in excel
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Sevenoaks area.Tel
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GOLDEN Ear Triton 2 P lus
sem i-active speakers w ith ribbon
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U nitA,C u l
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etD rive,Q u eenborou gl
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etters@ hifinew s.com .
Hi-FiN ew s accepts no responsibil
ity for description or condition ofitem s advertised.
DECEMBER 2023
w w w .h if
in ew s.co .uk
1 37
LAST W ORD c
KEN KESSLER TELLS IT LIKE IT IS
Ken Kessler argues the
merits of the retro appeal
figuring in more than a
few audio redesigns
Retro’sval
u e isinescapabl
e w hen it
nevitabl
y,there has been som ething ofa :
cu stom er backl
ash againstthe pl
ethora : com es to the tw o biggesthits in recent
ofprodu cts w hich seem ingl
yl
ook
• m otoring history:the rebom Miniandthe
backw ards instead offorw ards. I
n nearl
y : Fiat50 0 . Their originalprodu ction spans
every fiel
d ofm anu factu red goods,
i w ere,respectivel
y, 1959-20 0 0 and
especial
l
y in the l
u xu ry sector ofw hich hi-fiis : 1957-1975,so it’sdou btfu lthe m aj
ority of
a part,‘retro’ isa now -essentialsel
l
ing point : their dem ographic - the peopl
e bu ying
atatim e w hen m odernity isrendering l
ife
: those cars- w ere even al
ive w hen the
«
au nched.
dystopian. (
Iam notthe onl
y tech-saw y sou l ■ m arq u es w ere l
*
*
w ho has been stym ied by car park apps
w hich don’tw ork in areas ofpoor reception. : COM PET IT IVE U PDA T ES
Itbegsthe retu rn ofa sim pl
e cash paym ent.) : Andyetthose cars in their new gu ises are
: hu ge triu m phs. I
n fact,al
lretro-inspired
COM F ORT Z ON ES
: item s (w ith the exception offou ntain pens)
• em pl
oy brand-new technol
ogy cl
othed in
P eopl
el
ove retro becau se ofa sim pl
e
psychol
ogicalcau se. C onsu m ers are draw n
: vintage attire. Even the l
atestAG A cookers
to the com fortabl
e,fam il
iar and/or nostal
gic, : u se el
ectronic tim ers,w hil
e the Fiatandthe
even ifitisn’tthei
row n nostal
gia.
: Miniare tru l
y contem porary vehicl
es bu t
Al
l
ow m e to expl
ain. A l
istofindu stries
: w ith period-l
ook coachw ork and both vastl
y
: su perior in perform ance to the finest
w hich have w al
l
ow ed in retro su ggests
exam pl
es oftheir predecessors.
near-u niversalappeal
,despite
On to retro hi-fi. W hil
e the
those w ho decry itas being a
refu ge for l
az iness or l
ack of
efforts ofJBL,Kl
ipsch,Thorens,
NAD and other brands reviving
im agination. Itincl
u des cars;al
l
m u sic reissu es;l
u ggage
or cel
ebrating m odel
s ofthe
(G l
obetrotter,Rim ow a);k itchen
pastm ightpossibl
y seem l
ike
appl
iances (AG A,Rangem aster);
breaths ofstal
e air,inside al
l
have been u pdated. Even
w ristw atches (al
lm echanical
V al
veP ow er’sreborn Leak
types); m en’sfashion (cl
assic
attire dom inates);fou ntain pens (innatel
y
• Stereo 20 and Q u ad I
Iam pl
ifiers benefit
: from com ponents w hich did notexistin the
retro),ad i
nfi
ni
tum .
Few indu l
ging in pastgl
ories have fail
ed, :
ook l
ike
■ 1950 s and ’60 s. So,they m ay l
• som ething straightou tofthe 1961 Hi
-Fi
thu s the opportu nities provided by
anniversaries,w hich som e obj
ectto. Su rel
y : Y earb ookbu tm y experience su ggests they
an anniversary isone ofthe passage of
• can com pete w ith m u ch ofw hatiscu rrentl
y
: on the m ark etofsim il
ar specification.
tim e’sfew gifts?
I
Theymight
seem like
breathsof
staleair’
Jan issue
on sal
e1 5^
138
w w w .hifinew s.co.uk
DECEMBER 2023
EX CLU SIV E TESTS:
D'
Agost
i
n o Moment
um MxVI
nt
egr
at
ed
KEFR11 Met
af
l
oor
st
an d er
s
Mol
a Mol
a Lupephon o pr
eamp
Musi
calFi
del
i
t
yAl'
Cl
assA'
ampl
i
f
i
er
DSAudi
o Mast
er3opt
i
calcar
t
r
i
d ge
W hatofthe ap p ealofretro,and hi-fiin
particu l
ar? For au dio,itiseven m ore l
ogical
than for,say,cars or cookers,becau se there
are enou gh m u sic l
overs w ho have shu nned
digitaland retu rnedto the LP .Vinylitsel
fis
innatel
y retro andyetw e have brand-new
cartridges m ade w ith m aterial
s thatdidn’t
existdu ring the anal
ogu e era,and phono
stagesw hich bl
ow aw ay anything from 60
years ago. The l
atesttu rntabl
es are al
so
m arvel
s ofm odern technol
ogy,so even if
Thorens’ TD 150 0 [HFN Mar ’ 22]l
ooks l
ike
som ething from Harol
d M acm il
l
an’stim e,it
stil
lou tperform s the originalTD -150 .
Sow hatisw rong w ith em u l
ating the
cl
assic l
ooks ofthe past,especial
l
y if
m anu factu rers avoid or even correctthe
u res ofthe original
s?
k: perform ance fail
iBA CK T O T HE 1700s
: W hatIw on’tsay isthatal
lvintage hi-fihas
: been bettered entirel
y by reincarnated
: pr ogeny-and Ihave yetto hear A/B
• com parisons betw een the new Kl
ipsch
: Heresy l
ou dspeak er or JBL’sL10 0 andtheir
• antecedents. Bu tw hatisso egregiou s abou t
: savou ring the l
ooks ofpastcl
assics,w hen
: you consider thatso m u ch m odem
: eq u ipm entiseither u tterl
y anodyne in its
: styl
ing,or absol
u tel
y grotesq u e?
:
Bu tnotal
l
... W hil
e hardl
y abl
e to
• reference its past,becau se the brandw as
: onl
y bom in 20 11,even u l
tra-m odern
• D ’Agostino am pl
ifiers exhibitatou ch ofretro
: by fitting a m eter basedon a w atch dialand
■ handsw hich date from the l
ate-170 0 s. D oes
: this dim inish the am pl
ifiers’ credibil
ity? Hel
l
,
: no. Ifanything,ithu m anises them and
: m akesthem even w arm er - and Im ean
• m etaphorical
l
y rather than via cal
idity.
:
W hil
e Iappreciate there are m odernists
•- eg, those benighted sou l
s w ho prefer an
: Appl
e w atch w ith a one-season shel
f-l
ife to a
• P atek P hil
ippe,w hen they al
ready ow n
: sm artphones to dealw ith data - the l
east
j one can say isthatthere isno harm atal
lin
: em pl
oying retro. And ifitm akes hi-fim ore
• acceptabl
e on a dom estic l
evel
,by being
: m ore visu al
l
y appeal
ing and m ore room
■ friendl
y,so be it. Iw ou l
d rather l
ook ata
: revived Leak am p than som e col
d,heartl
ess,
j sou l
l
ess ‘space-age’ creation. So bring back
: the w ooden sl
eeve,says I
.O
PLU S:
Vi
nt
ageRevi
ew:Pi
on eerPL-600t
ur
nt
abl
e
I
n vest
i
gat
i
on :Top20Chr
i
st
masCDboxset
s
Cl
assi
calCompan i
on :Haydn St
r
.Qt
.Op76No 2
Fr
omTheVaul
t
:Wecr
ackopen HFN'
sar
chi
ve
Vi
n ylI
con :Capt
ai
n Beef
hear
t
'
sSafeAsMi
l
k
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