Infinity IRS Beta MFA Luminescence ARC Reference Two Reference 600 Goldmund Studio Madrigal Carnegie

On center rack, under the Thorens TD-125 turntable (fitted with a Rabco arm) is the MFA Luminescence preamp; beneath is the Infinity Electronic Crossover; Audio Research Reference 2 seen on bottom shelf of rack to the left; Goldmund Studio Turntable on rack to the right.

I am truly delighted to publish this article on a second pair of Infinity IRS Beta in our circle. The first pair of course is Andy's (first reported here). Ever since he heard them, our friend Mark has clamored for a pair. After many years he is finally able to fulfill his dream. Congratulations!

HiFi Basics VIII: Home Visits, Peer Influence, Mentors and an Open Mind

Peer Influence Perhaps second to the unfortunate hyperboles regularly dished out by audio magazines (particularly TAS), one of the main reasons why audiophiles are so addicted to the hobby is actually peer influence. The more connections (including internet peers) one makes, the more things one discovers and potentially covets. This is the arguably beneficial aspect of having peer groups and peer support. Unfortunately, there are negative aspects too. The Peril of Like Minds One would think like minds would foster growth, but my experience tells me this is not so with audio. Small Circles of like-minded audiophiles usually have nothing much to offer in terms of good sound. Just three very common examples: 1) DIY'ers and modifiers put too much emphasis on material factors and sneer on commercial gear but their creations are often highly unmusical; 2) the majority of Tube Rollers and Vintage Aficionados are too into historical values to pay sufficient attention to performance factors; In HK, the "LS3/5A is the best loudspeaker ever" crowd mostly know nothing about high fidelity, indeed little about music reproduction. The smaller your world, the less the sound of your system is going to improve. Mentors are important in all fields of human endeavor, and audio is no exception. Problem is, no two individuals are alike, and social norms get in the way. The rare truly enlightened mentor works with the preferences and idiosyncrasies of his protege, to encompass them in a solution, but the average mentor often gets in the way, and forces his solution down the throat of his charge. The important thing is, the protege must grow up and there is always a "let go" moment. Unfortunately, in the Confucian East, where respect for the so-called sifu is taken to ridiculous extremes, we are all often left with a bunch of copy-cats. Astonishingly, "#me-too" is proving far too common in our age, even in audio.

Home Visits The audiophile experience knows no bounds. No audiophile, no matter how much time or money he has, can be said to have experienced everything great (our friend icefox in HK comes close though). Thus it is important to seize the opportunities for home visits in order to broaden one's horizon. But there is a catch from my viewpoint. Current vs Old Gears Unduly influenced by the magazines, many audiophiles believe in progress and foreswear anything but recent gear. This is a BIG mistake, as my experience tells me the best systems all have one thing in common - they have at least quite a bit of older or vintage equipment in them. Put it another way, I have heard many ultra modern systems, including much of the most expensive loudspeakers and electronics covered by TAS (like Jonathan Valin's stuff), but while at best they can sound reasonably good, mostly they don't make it to the best (this Blog has a Year in Review feature, where I list the best sound I have heard that year; browse should you like). Mind you, by no means is vintage anything better - far from it, most adherents don't do so well. But, and this is a big but, the discerning ear is capable of turning good vintage into gold. Stores and Shows For myriad reasons, Stores and Shows usually don't put forward the best sound, but they are important for audiophiles starting out or without peer support, especially in the US, where many are not even within driving distance of a dealer. In a place like HK, audiophiles are much luckier  - there are many stores and many specialize in second hand stuff, including vintage stuff. HK is also so small that many audiophiles get to do a lot of home visits.

Progress? There really has not been progress in audio. Detractors will point to the digital revolution (for it is that) but for us old-timers analog is still vastly better. The modern denizen of the world prides (positive) attitude and individuality, but ironically that is precisely what modern audio lacks, and this lack is unacceptable in audio, a venture into the senses. Beware! Reviewers always say something "tugs at the heart string", but if it is something modern or recent, take it with a coarse grain of salt.

Open Mind Hence, it is important to keep an open mind. While I am a big proponent of good vintage gears, efficient horns and low powered amplification, I am not adverse to other approaches. I still own ESL (the overachieving Martin Logan Source), panel (Magnepan 1.7), dynamic classics (LS 3/5A, Sonus faber Electa Amator II), which I enjoy from time to time. And I am certainly fond of BIG Line Source loudspeakers like the Infinity IRS Beta, as executed by my friends (this article tells you why), even if I personally would not take this approach. There are too many dogmatic audiophiles, all claiming there is only one way to heaven, but none of them are right.

Experiment, fail, stand up again, own, disown - there is no expressway. No amount of internet discussion and queries can substitute for hands on experience. Last, I'd like to say, for every successful system, there are dozens of failures. It is easier to identify problems than to appreciate virtues. Only the trained ear can do that. Aside from appreciation of real music (as opposed to audiophile stuff), getting to experience first hand the various approaches to audio reproduction helps one grow. Persist!

The Mighty Infinity IRS Beta, another pair!

On Sunday, Andy, Kevin, James, VAS Stephen, his lovely wife Jenny and I descended upon Mark's Long Island home to listen to his newly acquired Infinity IRS Beta.

Background This Stereophile Review by J Gordon Holt et al is truly excellent (no one writes like that anymore). Each side has 4 x 12" woofers - making it the equivalent of a 24" woofer. Given enough power, the system certainly can deliver real world dynamics. While touted, as Holt describes, the IRS Beta is certainly not without flaws. The Beta was supposed to be the flagship, but its success spawned the even bigger IRS V, which was regarded by some, including Harry Pearson of TAS, as better and the best (here). Unfortunately, the V's monstrous size and weight (the floor has to support 1,500 lbs), not to mention price, precludes its use for most people. Regardless, the IRS Beta is truly a legend.

Rather than dialing them in himself, Mark basically emulated the settings of Andy, which deviate significantly from the settings Arnie Nudell recommends. Infinity advises to have the bass cross over at 110 Hz, and the three knobs behind the panel to be close to center, which is not how Andy hears it (note too that JG Holt literally did it differently from Nudell; see link above). This is legitimate - after all the knobs have to be used to accommodate the room. It should be said too that the dimensions of mark's basement are quite close to Andy's (by eye).

The system we heard on that day comprised the following:

CD Transport: MBL 1521
DAC: MSB Link (Nelson) with Powerbase
Turntable: Goldmund Studio/Goldmund T3F arm/Madrigal Carnegie Cartridge
SUT: Ortofon T20
Full Function Preamp: MFA Luminescence
"Buffer Preamp: Audio Research Reference Two
Panel Amps: Audio Research Reference 600
Bass Column Amp: MBL

I have recently been evaluating RCA Living Stereo LP's and CD's (article to come), so I immediately played the SACD (CD layer) of Munch's famous recording of Saint Saens' Organ Symphony, one of my all-time favorites. Just a few bars were more than enough to convince me that this system is going to be Best Sound of the Year in my Year in Review, and it is just January! So, I can totally understand the beatific smile on Mark's face. No, one does not come across this kind of sound often, and I reckon most audiophiles have never heard sound like this. You could pick out and "touch" any instrument in the mix, so clear was the soundstage. Most impressive for me were the clarity of the celli and the breathlessly chirping woodwinds, which most systems would struggle with.

This is not to say the system is perfect but the virtues far outweigh the deficiencies. While there was no grating in the treble, there was a certain "whiteness" to the sound. While this is to be expected from ribbons, I did think it should be warmed up further. With vinyl playback, I was surprised by how close the sound was to digital.

MFA Luminescence I had thought the MFA Luminescence (used for phono amplification and fed into the "Bypass" of the Audio Research) would contribute more warmth - the unit of my HK friend jules sounded warmer from memory; but then this model had gone through many iterations and a lot depends on tube rolling too. We played a Carpenters CD, and the voice of Karen Carpenter was definitely too lean. James started to tinker with the crossover frequency, opining that 134 Hz sounded better, but Andy and I would not agree; to me that muddled the sound. What really made the difference was Andy's highly effective move to switch the loudspeaker cables, which fleshed out the sound and restored normalcy to Karen Carpenter's voice.

Goldmund Studio/T3F arm and Madrigal Carnegie Cartridge These are exotic but coveted items.  Andy has the Goldmund Studio turntable but I have not heard it. It is an unusual beast, a direct-drive on a suspended chassis!!! Andy says it has a very special ambience (Roy Gregory of HiFi+ seems to be impressed too in his survey of new direct-drives). Andy told me the one Mark has is a later version with a better JVC motor than the original's Pabst, and the T3F arm is also better than the T5 arm. As for the Madrigal (Mark Levinson) Carnegie Cartridge, it too has a solid reputation. Judging from remarks made in this vinylengine thread, Benz was the OEM and its sound is highly neutral and resolved (various people compared it to the Ortofon MC3000, Ortofon Rohmann and AT OC-9), which jells largely with my own impression. Mark uses it with the Ortofon T20, which is itself on the neutral side. No wonder I found the sound to be quite similar to the MSB digital (I have to say MSB is not a personal favorite either). Next time I visit I shall bring a few SUT's that I think will change the sound.

In all, a fuller mid bass would be beneficial (for all ribbons indeed) and Andy suggested moving the bass columns more into the corners. This was not carried out as the loudspeaker cables were not long enough. As we left it, the bass contour could use some shaping. I thought the MBL (I don't like their electronics, especially in the bass - they all lack a tactile feel) was likely not the best candidate for the job. As this article went to press, I just learned that Mark had recently changed to an Accuphase amp, which reportedly did a much better job.

Rome was not built in one day, and neither would a great Infinity System be. Andy took a long time to arrive at his current settings and Mark had benefitted greatly from his experience. I am sure further improvements can be wrought with time, but it is already mightily impressive.

It was a great day. Icing on the cake was the joyful time we spent eating Chinese Hot Pot, one plain, the other fiery hot. There were fish balls aplenty, two kinds of beef, squid, large prawns, conch, bamboo shoots and other vegetables, all washed down with all kinds of alcoholic beverages. What was particularly gratifying was the long time spent at the table debating various issues.

Here, big thanks to Mark's wife and father-in-law, who had to skip church service to prepare all the food. There was so much leftover that we are already scheming for a return visit to mop them up.