ATC SCM19 P1 Schiit Gungnir Marantz PM14S1SE

Click pic to enlarge. System is so simple it is self-explanatory.

Caveman
by Audiopro

Editor: If you look at this simple system, it may escape and surprise you that the author had gone through a lot before, including something as different as a fully tubed Audio Note Level 2 System! Sometimes we get more ambitious, sometimes we scale down, sometimes we change trajectory, but whatever we do our ears (and our hearts), not those of others, must guide us. This makes his points even more worthy of heeding. This is also Virtual Home Visits (11).

My quest for a setup began almost 25 years ago. At that time I owned a Sony FH series mini compo and I listened to music that I loved. My foot tapped, my head bobbed. My body swayed. I yelled in joy on some tracks. I clapped my hands on others. My body wanted to dance! I was going by primal instinct, I was a caveman! Then I turned into an audiophile locked lifeless in a chair and began to listen to music that sounded good only on my setup. So what happened?

I moved from the simple Sony system to a set of floorstanders driven by an integrated amplifier and CD player. Suddenly music no longer sounded fun.

I tried cable swaps, power filtering, speaker changes etc. Swapped speakers, swapped amplifiers, CD players, etc. I began buying audiophile CD’s because I firmly believed the garbage in garbage out fallacy. Sounds familiar? Read on!

I call this a fallacy because very often we are told that a high end system will expose a poor recording. It will expose the warts on it but it shouldn’t take away the primal quality of music. The body is sensitive to music. Walk into a store with some music playing and automatically you feel like swaying. Sitting at a pub you suddenly yell out when they play your favorite song. People faint at live concerts. I’d probably faint in fear at a Slipknot [Ed: Heavy Metal Band] concert but that’s different. Why does all this disappear when we sit in front of a multi thousand dollar setup? What happened to that primal emotion that we felt earlier?

Our expectations are set by review articles that said we should look for adjectives like silky highs, airy highs, warm balance, huge soundstage, strong harmonics, etc when judging an audio setup. Jaws should drop. Your wife should drop the cooking and come into the room and say darling what a lovely sound. Unfortunately IMHO those parameters do not matter when it comes to enjoying music.

Musicians are not trained to play a trumpet in a silky manner or to make their guitars sound warm. Imagine telling Ozzy or Freddie to sing with a silky voice. They probably would have popped you on the head for saying that. They train to time right, articulate using different parts of their head, mouth or throat, manage changes in amplitude with their breath (micro dynamics) and to get you to connect with them. Their voice changes depending on their health and age as well. Listen to an older Aretha Franklin and she can move you to tears with her big voice. A good musician connects to your primal instinct that recognizes music and moves you, be it physically or emotionally.

So what matters?

I grew up playing the piano and while I did, music was a function of three things:

1. Timing – this is what we term as PRAT. Get the timing wrong and no matter what you do the music will not engage you. Timing is everything. This is why sometimes an old mono radio (non digital) sounds good because it gets the timing right. Try clapping in tune with a song in your head. Now clap out of tune and see what happens. Music lives in the space between notes.

2. Micro dynamics – The way one hits a key or plucks a string determines the micro dynamics. We always talk about dynamics but it is micro dynamics that are more important. This is where the soul of music lies. How Louis Armstrong blows puffs of air into his trumpet is what gives him his character. Most powerful amplifiers deliver dynamics but miss out on the delicacy of the notes i.e. micro dynamics. They just shoot through them.

If I hit a key softly and then a little harder randomly, it would go ping, Ping, PING, piNG, and so on. The same is applied for singing. Listen to the song Imagine by John Lennon. When he says Imagine its not said in one amplitude IMAGINE. There is a micro dynamic to it. Listen to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Sara Bareilles. You should be able to pick out the micro dynamics when she plays different piano keys. This is why Keith don’t go [Ed: Nils Lofgren] sounds noisy on some systems. They just slam out his guitaring at one amplitude and fail to differentiate between the various notes.

3. Tonality – If the piano needed tuning, no matter what I played it'd sound weird. It would either sound too high or too low. A piano must be centered correctly tonally. The same is true of a system. If the system is centered too high it will sound superb on say audiophile female vocals where they swoon and tzz and whizz with the notes. Play something by Neil Diamond and it will fail to engage you. Play rock and you will run away. Play Ozzy Osbourne and…OK you get it!

These are the three parameters that any system I aspire to must have. If it fails in any of these parameters the system will not engage me at all. These are the primary characteristics. Even background music will sound good if it maintains these.

Then there are some other parameters I would add to complete the setup, especially two channel ones:

4. Image size – I have heard many people aspire for a huge image size, huge soundstage - everything must sound bigger than life. When I listen to a setup, I look at the size of the vocal image. Ideally it should emerge from a space the size of an orange or a small Cantaloupe. This prevents multiple singers and instruments from blurring into each other and creating a smeared soundstage. Smearing tends to affect micro dynamics because you cannot pickup individual instruments. It turns towards a mushy sound. We then end up turning the volume up to try and hear through the mush and it sounds noisy. This is also a function of speaker positioning but position a speaker well and use two different amps and you will pick up the differences in image size.

5. Bass – One can never have enough bass. Bass isn’t about going thump thump. Bass conveys the two things – fun and space. The mid bass adds to the PRAT factor. We enjoy mid bass; we enjoy a kick from the drum. Low bass (which is a function of your room to a great extent) shows you space. It adds a feel to the sound. The size of the recording venue, the space around the music. Bass sets the canvas on which music is painted.

I personally look for bass that is drier rather than wetter. A dry bass tends to attack and then has a short decay like a Mike Tyson punch. A wet bass tends to be soft on the attack and tends to go poooooof on the decay. Some call this a loose bass. While a wetter bass may sound nice on audiophile recordings I feel it affects music negatively overall.

6. Harmonics – Most people place this first in their list. They want a harmonically rich system. Tubes! I want tubes! When done right harmonics will move your soul. When done wrong it will get you to move out of the room. Every instrument, voice, etc has its own harmonic structure known as timbre. When you hit a 400hz key on the piano it isn’t playing just 400hz. It will deliver maximum amplitude at 400hz along with a bunch of other frequencies above and below this note at lower amplitudes.

The mistake is done when we expect the system to add a ton of harmonics, thus seriously altering timbre. The recording has to capture the harmonics while the music system must play it back. If the recording has failed to capture it you will not hear it. All systems add colour to some degree. If the system is balanced right (i.e. not too high or too low) it will sound good on a vast number of songs compared to one that is harmonically over rich modifying the timbre greatly.

7. Tube Coloration I have experienced this with tubes. The Telefunken 12AX7 tube is a neutral tube. It adds just a dash of harmonics (like Goldilocks porridge). On the other hand a Mullard tube is harmonically rich but tends to turn into mush. Alison Krauss may sound sublime on the Mullard tube but something with a little get up and go will sound boring and dull.

8. Listen for the singer. To understand this, have a look at this Beth Roars video on youtube (here, or play the video embedded on the bottom of this article). She is a voice coach and she evaluates how different famous singers sing. See if your system can reveal this. A singer is like an instrument. They all have their own set of timbre, pitch, dynamics, articulation of vowels etc. They cheat at times to hide their limitations by suddenly ending a sentence. You should be able to experience their character in your system. It is difficult to achieve this but it is possible.

How I chose my setup:

A system must sound balanced. We often try to balance a bright speaker with a warm amp etc. This is not called a balanced setup. When you do this you may end up with a reasonably listenable sound, but it almost never sounds right. This is because both products are pulling in opposite directions instead of complementing them. The point I am trying to make is try not to buy a product that is too skewed sound wise because then you are compensating for that skew with other products. The less the skew the easier it is to build a system. In theory you should be able to flavor the system with a single component, be it a wire, source, etc.

My current setup is based on my room size. I have a small 11 x 12 feet room with some basic treatment. I picked the ATC SCM19 speakers because they do not over power my room, are neutral and deliver lovey PRAT courtesy of their sealed box design. I cannot stress this enough – do not pick a speaker that is too large for your room! Or the journey will end the minute you hit play.

The ATC speaker doesn’t try and act smart. It needs current, so I recommend using an amp that delivers high current by using more than two transistors per channel. Most amps above 120W at 8 ohms will use parallel transistors and should work fine in terms of drive.

The ATC speaker delivers what it is fed. So by picking a neutral sealed box speaker that delivers adequate bass for my room I am not left compensating for the speaker's skew in sound signature, nor am I trying to compensate for the room.

My amplification chain consists of the ATC P1 power amplifier, which again to a large extent is neutral with a tad of MOSFET warmth in the bass and upper highs. It has enough drive for this speaker. It times well and is dynamic.

My DAC is from Schiit audio – the MB Gungnir. This dac is pretty neutral and dynamic. It is a dense DAC which means it delivers each note with a certain amount of weight. This prevents the highs or voices sounding thin. It is neither harmonically over rich nor is it lean. It doesn’t get confused by complex music and has a wholesome bass.

I use a Sony Blu Ray as a transport and stream Tidal using Chromecast. I may add an Allo transport for Tidal at a later date.

So with most of my chain being balanced neutrally I am left with the pre stage to take the system whichever way I want. This is where I have flavored it. I use a Marantz PM14S1 SE integrated amplifier as the pre. This amp is a HIDDEN gem and has flown under the radar. It’s pre stage is to die for.

It offers superb PRAT and micro dynamics are stunning; it's fluid; image size is near perfect; just the right amount of harmonic structure and a dry bass. It was as if Ken Ishiwata asked me what I wanted in an amp and voiced it that way! This doesn’t sound like the Marantz of old which was warm and tubey with poor timing. This is a perfect blend of the parameters that I look for. If I had to nitpick I’d say it has a tinge of hardness in the upper mids. This amp needs burn in. Don’t judge it on day 1 or it will sound hard. If you can get hold off a piece I strongly recommend you do so. It is able to drive the ATC speaker by itself in my small room but not as confidently as ATC’s own power amp.

Lastly cables – I use simple plain-Jane 16 guage copper speaker cables from Sommer or Supra. Interconnects are simple copper ones soldered by myself. Power cables are stock. Again the idea is to avoid products that are heavily flavoured. Do the flavouring at one level and let it flow through the rest of the setup.

I’ll sign off by sharing the following tips:

1. Try and understand the house sound of a manufacturer and if you like it and the manufacturer builds the entire chain, try and stick with it as much as possible. Example: Rega CD player with a Rega amplifier. Naim with Naim. ATC speakers with ATC amps. Sim audio amps and dacs. This removes a lot of guess work.

2. Match the speaker to your room and to the amplifier correctly. This will break a system if done wrong and no amount of tinkering can solve this.

3. Position your speakers well. Take time to find the spot in which the bass sounds right. Then focus on the image size. Image size at a macro level is primarily a function of the room though equipment, especially amplifiers, affect it greatly on a micro level as well. Complete speaker positioning is beyond the scope of this article but it is absolutely critical in achieving good sound.

4. Keep the parameters discussed in the beginning in mind. Timing, micro dynamics, well balanced sound, image size, etc.

5. Try different gauges of speaker cables. Sometimes lesser gauge wires offers better balance. Get hold of affordable 12, 14 and 16 gauge wires and try them out. High end cables DO work when you are trying to compensate for system skewness!

6. Try and listen to music at approximately 80db with 95 db peaks. This in my experience allows the singers voice to scale perfectly without hardening or bloating or loosing control. This is a personal choice though.

9. Never ever ever ever listen to an audio salesman telling you garbage in garbage out and that the setup he is demoing sounds bad because your CD’s are poor. If the system delivers on timing, dynamics and is well balanced, majority of poor recordings will get your foot tapping. Listen to a talented homeless man sing or play a cheap guitar on the street and see what happens to your foot.

10. See if your foot taps and head bobs when you listen to a system. If the system is setup well it will connect with your primal instinct and you will enjoy the setup. It will grow on you. Bass, treble soundstage, this parameter or that will no longer matter because the setup connects with your soul.

11. Pay attention to your equipment support. The material the equipment is placed on will shift the tonal balance slightly. This happens at a micro level. Place your amp on the floor, then on a stool, then on a rack and you will notice it sounds RIGHT on one of them. Avoid placing equipment one on top of the other. I consider equipment support as part of my system setup. I do not use expensive racks, but I do have different base materials like wood and granite, which I use as a final balancer for my setup.

12. Lastly, as our friend Prem says (his system the JBL4343 has been featured here too) “Don’t think of sound as warm, big, soundstage, silky treble, tight bass, etc. Think of it as tone, timbre, dynamics and presence.” The former are audiophile parameters, the later primal ones.

Welcome to the Jungle!

Klipschorn Cornwall Marantz CDA94 Timbre TT1 VAS 103 Cinemag

Click Pics to enlarge.

Virtual Home Visit (4): The Mighty Klipschorns!

Ten years ago I reported our visit to Jeff, after yumcha. Things haven't changed that much. Of course, when you have a good pair of horns, you don't think about other loudspeakers!

In the Interim, Jeff also got a pair of Klipsch Cornwall, which he placed  along the long wall, left of the equipment racks. I have enjoyed it but didn't write about it for some reason.

Jeff is an avid music listener and enjoys streaming, including the NPR concerts Eric L wrote about.

Analog: VPI Scout, JMW arm, VAS Shenmu 103 Cartridge [Footnote 1]
Step Up Transformer:  Cinemeg [Footnote 2]
Phonoamp: Rogue Triton
Digital Transport: Pure music MU20
DACs: Timbre TT1, Schiit Yaggdrasil, Marantz CDA94 [Footnote 3]
Preamp: McIntosh MA 6900 Integrated Amp used as Preamp
Power Amps: Schiit Aegir, Rogue M120
Speaker: Klispchorn

Editor's Footnotes: 1) except for the wood shell, it is the same cartridge as the VAS Ebony I wrote about here; 2) see here; 3) That's 3 very different DAC's! Of course for myself the 16-bit Marantz reigns supreme. I loaned my CD94/CDA94 set to my friend Hoi in HK. My experience was, yes, addition of the CDA94 made the sound better. The strangest thing is that the CD player uses dual TDA1541 chips, whereas the upgraded DAC uses only one! These are among Marantz's most feted products and you can still find many reviews online (this Stereophile review is interesting in that two reviewers have different views of it; this Stereomono is also good for its many inside pics). When it comes to Timbre, I don't have personal experience, but my interest tends to lean away from Delta-Sigma types. Again, Stereophile has an interesting review as the reviewers compared it to several other DACs, including one of my favorites, the Sonic Frontier SFD-2.

Center Rack, from Top, cheap Chinese Digital Transport, Timbre, Schiit and Marantz.
Magnum Dynalab Tuner. Right Rack, from Top, 2 Schiit's, McIntosh, Rogue.

SMSL SA-36A Pro, Citation I, Conrad Johnson Premier 2 and 3, Cary CAD 211

For all pics, click to enlarge. L: Note the weighted down SMSL on top of HT center loudspeaker, behind which is the subwoofer. On the flanks are the Cary 211 monoblocks. Marantz 8B and Jadis JA-80's in front.

Review: SMSL SA-36A Pro
SMSL vs Cary CAD-211
Conrad Johnson Premier 2/3 vs Harman Kardon Citation I
Cary CAD-211 vs Jadis JA-80 vs Marantz 8B
JBL L20T, Part II
Letter from NYC (82) 2018 (8): Smorgasbord

R's Altec A5 saga continues. After the last report, we made two more visits and exhaustively tested numerous combinations. This article summarizes the two visits. But first, a little diversion.

SMSL SA-36A Pro (TDA7492PE) 

• T-Amps Though I firmly believe in the superiority of tubes, for some fun at low cost I occasionally do dabble in T-amps (expensive implementations are ridiculous). My first one was the (discontinued) Lepai LP-2020A+, which employed the well-regarded Tripath TPA2020 chip. I was delighted by its performance (as an amp in a humble system here and even more as a power amp in a hi-end system here). I also bought one of its successors, the Lepai LP-2024A+ (employing TPA2024) which was almost as good, though a shade cooler in sonics (no report yet). As the TPA2020 chip had long been unavailable (Tripath had gone bankrupt), my curiosity for a better built one with a better power supply had me turn elsewhere.

• General Info This model from the interestingly named (in Chinese, 雙木三林) company (official info) has been in production for a long time and had gone through many iterations. The earliest used the Tripath TPA2020 chip, but it was replaced soon by the Texas Instrument TPA3118 chip and all of these garnered a good reputation. However, after the company switched to the current TI TPA7492PE chip, there were quite a bit of noise and confusion on the net (read the incredible fuss made over something under $50), and that is the version I have just bought. There are variations, and mine is the more common 12V version.

• Ergonomics The build quality is very good, though for the bare wire user (me) the small speaker binding posts are no more convenient than the cheap posts on the Lepai. What really bothers me is the lack of an indicator lamp, so be mindful of the on/off status.

• Round 1/Chez Moi/JBL L20T I tested these on my JBL L20T (Part I here). Direct-In First I fed the output of my reference Aurorasound Vida phonoamp directly into it, and the sound was very good. As Power Amp Next, I used it with my reference System III (last described in detail here) driving the JBL L20T's. The sound was surely even better. Compared to my bookshelf reference Almarro M1A (reported here; a tall order indeed), the L20T's were just a little more weighted towards the midrange, less pure in the treble (which may be the amp too) and smaller in soundstage. It should be known that my relatively near-field and way-in-room placement minimizes the room effect and difference between loudspeakers. Although the JBL's likely would like even more power to pump out more bass, the SMSL did an excellent job driving them. The 

• Round 2/Chez Kevin/Altec A7 It was briefly tested at the same session reported here (note in the R pic the SMSL perched atop the Dynaco PAS 3). Suffice to say the the SMSL stood up to the Conrad Johnson MV-75 amp very well.

• Round 3/Chez R/Altec A5 The result was astonishing, as detailed in the section below.

Home Visit 1: Sometimes I think of the squad as the coaching team, trying to coalesce the players (the equipment) into a winning whole. Andy is the mild-tempered and democratic head coach, myself a temperamental assistant; R of course is the owner of the franchise - demanding at times, but not quite a Steinbrenner. On this occasion, Kevin was the fourth man, and we tried out numerous plays. The lunch (L pic) as usual was wonderful, an overstuffed omelette washed down with a brut sparkling.

• My Agenda During the previous visit to R's smaller room, I thought that although the Altec A5 sounded quite nice, the leading edge/attack was slower than what I am accustomed to hearing from Altec (e.g. Andy's) and other well implemented horns. Remembering that none of the amps were quite satisfactory, I decided to take along my SMSL for "diagnostics". Since I also thought R's turntables in this small room had anomalies, I wanted to use digital playback as a reference. The California Audio Labs Delta Transport/Sigma Tubed DAC were dusted off and pressed into action. I brought several of my own test CD's. Equipment used were somewhat different from last time (see link above). The CJ Premier 2 served as full function preamp in lieu of the previous Jadis DPL2, its phono section also replacing the Lamm. This section described mostly the results obtained using digital playback, which was very instructive.

• CJ Premier 2 + Cary CAD-211 We didn't hear the Cary's last time, as they had only just recently returned from electrolytic cap replacement (the big blue cans, which R had listened to for several days and heard them opening up). This long running model has had multiple iterations - these are from way back (no bias meters). The 211 designation is a misnomer, as these use a pair of 845's in each channel. Used with the CJ Premier 2, the sound was powerful but overly warm and woolly, somewhat rounded off and slow in the leading edge. These were touted for their "life sized" images, which unfortunately were rather fuzzy through the horns. Substitution of the RFT EL34's for the Russian fat bottle 6CA7 brought a significant improvement - more believable outlines.

• CJ Premier 2 + Cary CAD-211 (vs SMSL SA-36A Pro) Using the same CJ Premier 2, the very humble SMSL showed off the glaring weakness of the Cary. Aside from a warmer tone and more power, there was nothing favorable. On Masekela's Hope, the audiophile fave stimela (Track 12) best illustrates this: the big crescendo was perfectly gauged and proportioned through the SMSL, but ill-shaped and prematurely saturated through the Cary's; the rhythmic imitations of the train were incandescent through the SMSL but sorrily flaccid through the Cary's. The trombone and double bass in the vivo movement of Stravinsky's Pulcinella (ASMF/Marriner, Argo/Decca) commanded their own lines and were perfectly integrated as a duo though the SMSL, but through the Cary's they were just plain mushy. Even worse was the Bach Double Violin Concerto (Kuijken/La Petite Bande, Pro Arte) - through the SMSL, the lines were perfectly clear, and one could feel the up- and down-bow's, all hopelessly lost through the Cary's. The playback of a jazz CD, Shirley Horn's You Won't Forget Me (Verve) was similarly excellent and, imho, much better balanced than the analog rigs.

• CJ Premier 2 vs 3 vs Citation I We used the two turntables mostly. As there were two full function preamps with both phono sections and tape out, we went  through quite a few permutations that we had to go through. Suffice to say as a whole: CJ 2 vs 3 The CJ Premier 3 is very similar to 2, but solid state rectified, and they sounded more similar than different to my ears. Citation I As expected, the Citation I was obviously more neutral and did not unduly soften the leading edge, making it a much better match for the lugubrious Cary. Not only that, as we had fed the CJ (can't remember whether it was the 2 or 3) phono section into the Citation line stage, I can conclude that the Citation I phono section is superior. Just before we left, we played the Masekela track, and it was a lot better than before, but the crescendo was still not quite shapely.

Home Visit 2: On this occasion almost the full gang showed up. We were also joined by R's friend Louis. This occasion was marked by the arrival of an Audio Research Reference 2 preamp, which we compared to the Jadis JPS2 in the main Wilson rig. Then we tried out more combos in the A5 room. Lunch was R's wonderful home-made sausages and, for novelty, venison burger, all washed down with an excellent Chilean Shiraz and  California Red.

• Reference 2 vs Jadis JPS2 We used the Rockport Sirius turntable, now fitted with 100 ohm loaded Ortofon 2M Black (Andy said this eliminates the unpleasant peak). We first used the Lamm LP2 phonoamp, which did not woo us, and so we replaced it by the sweeter phono section of the CJ Premier 2. We unanimously agreed that the venerable ARC (with completely stock tubes) had much better focus and control than the Jadis JPS2. In this room this is of great importance as the ARC obviously consolidated the center stage, which has a tendency to be less filled up. Naturally, with the all-Russian tubes, sound was not quite as sweet, but it is a trade-off I personally would gladly take. Interestingly, although this setup was targeted to play classical music, jazz sounded even better. On Ellington - The Pianist (Fantasy LP) Ellington's piano sounded smart (as it must) while Sam Woodyard's brushwork was breathtaking on (side 2, track 1) Tap Dancer's Blues. Sony Stitt also was very much his golden-toned, comforting self in one of his late outings, Sonny Stitt meets Sadik Hakim (Progressive, LP).

• Cary CAD-211 vs Jadis JA-80 vs Marantz 8B based on the session reported above, we stayed with the Harman Citation I as preamp. The Cary was just as I remembered it, but the Jadis JA-80 fared not one whit better. Then we swapped the Marantz 8B in. Previously, we had heard it with the CJ Premier 2 and its slow speed bothered me. Not this time: partnered with the Citation I, the Marantz 8B showed a clean pair of heels to the Cary and Jadis. The leading edge was faster and cleaner; Masekela's Stimela almost edged up to the SMSL amp. The tonal qualities too were way superior to the Cary's and Jadis'. I was quite satisfied and would personally stay with this combo in this room.

• Jazz vs Classical? Although the results were satisfying enough, I still think on this day, in this room, supposedly the jazz room, the jazz playback was not as as good as in the living room, supposedly the classical room. Similarly, the classical (digital) playback through the A5's sounded to me as good as the big rig. For myself, there is no such division, and indeed may write more on this in a coming article. I do think now that there is much competition between the two setups, we can expect improvements in both in due time (they are already quite wonderful).

Assessment

• SMSL SA-36A Pro This is a wonderful little amp. The sound is excellent, particularly with efficient loudspeakers. It is more robust than my Lepai  LP-2020A+, and I have yet to hear it clip with my less efficient JBL L20T. Mine is the current version, which uses the TI TPA7492PE; I think if it can pass muster with me, there is little point in struggling to compare it with past iterations. The treble is generally good (witness how it renders violin and massed strings) though not as pure as tube, but there is a little grain at the very top which becomes noticeable at high volume. I think a little mod or a better power supply could take the amp to a higher level, though I shall stop at here for the moment. Horn users should have one of these amps on hand to compare with the tube amps (and preamps) they are using - they may be pleasantly, or unpleasantly, surprised. Its neutrality and simplicity reveals most of the music, which is more than can be said about severely flawed lesser tube gear (and this from a tube lover).

• Conrad Johnson Premier 2/3 To my ears, the 2 and 3 are more similar than different. They share similar sonic characteristics - a big, bold sound that many like. However, their weaknesses - lack of dynamic and rhythmic exactitude, not to mention refinements - preclude my endorsement. In many ways, I think the Premier 2 and 3 are just beefed up PV-5's (substitute your favorite numerals) and may be even the worse for it. This is true of the line stage for sure. Although we had tested it less, I do also think the phono sections are too colored for me (much prefer the Citation I).

• Jadis JPS2 Much the same can also be said about the Jadis. There is some measure of opulence, a la creme, but where is the finesse?

• Harman Kardon Citation I The Citation I continues to impress. The phono section is superior to those in the Premier 2 and 3 and, if you ask me, likely the Lamm LP2. I also much prefer the line section over the sluggish CJ Premier 2/3 and Jadis JPS2, all cathode follower designs (Stu Hegeman was definitely onto something). Yes, the line section gets stressed a little when playing loud but this is largely ameliorated by partnering with a more forgiving amp, like the Marantz 8B.

• Cary CAD-211 and Jadis JA-80 Not my cup of tea, as you must know by now. They were decidedly bettered by the Marantz 8B, not to mention the tiny SMSL. I actually think these have no place in a horn system but would probably do better with conventional dynamic speakers of good to moderate efficiencies and a fast modern preamp.

• Marantz 8B Like I said before in my last report quoted above, it is hard to go wrong with this amp; the more you work with the 8B, the better it is - it repays your efforts.

• Altec A5 Absolutely marvelous! R's pair surprise me by how well they play classical material (via CD though). I am not sure why the analog rigs are not quite performing as well - I'd venture to guess the very revealing A5's just reveal every anomaly in the chain. Personally I think, factoring in the difference in partnering gear and room, the A5 renders classical music (again CD only) at least as well as the big Wilson's; in fact, in dynamic gradation and presence they are unquestionably superior. If placed in the big living room I am confident they will easily trounce the Wilson's. Remember, the good sounding living room rescued the Wilson's, and it would do wonders with other loudspeakers too. Also, further improvement in A5 playback can likely be obtained by substituting a better subwoofer (e.g. my cheapo but over-achieving Pioneer SW-8, reported here) for the subpar (home theater) Focal. 

• Audio Research Reference 2 This definitely has potential. I await the results of some tube rolling. I have heard this many times before in HK, and it has aways turned in reliable, if not often exciting, performances.

• California Audio Lab Delta/Sigma This is a combo that has stood the test of time; I have heard it many times in HK, always to good effect. Although I am a fan of true multi-bit players, this is nonetheless a very good implementation of Delta-Sigma. A classic.

• JBL L20T Impression here is the same as in Part I. Typical JBL quality that needs no further touting.

Altec A5, WE124, Marantz 8B, Jadis JA-80, JPS2, Citation I, McIntosh Verdin P-153

Click pic to enlarge. Front to Back: WE 124; Marantz 8B, Jadis JA-80, McIntosh Verdin P-153. Subwoofer behind center channel.

Growing Up Without Pain! One Lucky Man's A5
Jadis JA-80, Marantz 8B, WE 124, McIntosh Verdin P-153
Jadis JPS2 vs Harmon Kardon Citation I
Letter from NYC (76) 2018 (2): Smorgasbord!

That Horny Feeling What would life be without our taskmaster R (you last met him recently, here)? Contented now with the big Wilson rig in his cavernous living room, he immediately set about to fill the void in his previous man-cave and theater room, where the Wilson's had literally struggled to be heard. Being a jazz fan under the influence of mentor/team leader Andy, he was somehow (rightly) drawn to horns (without having heard much).

The Great Debate Since the den was vacated, the team had spent much time fruitlessly debating on whether JBL or Altec or even Klipsch would be best for R. Simon has always been a JBL fan, and in some ways I concur - it is usually much easier to get good sound out of JBL (better crossovers) than Altec (notorious crossover woes, which I am not at all sure is always justified). On the other hand, I thought a good pair of classic Klipsch is a complete solution - the stock crossovers work well (and I prefer them to the many overhyped aftermarket kits) and you need not do much tweaking. However, some of us, myself and likely Andy, do feel that, when properly implemented, Altec delivers the most.

Men at Work It all came to fruition during my absence. A late alnico Altec A5 system was sourced from Andy's friend P and the I heard the team had recently labored quite hard to implement the system in R's den, one of those occasions when everything that could have gone wrong did. I reaped the fruits of their efforts as I got to hear them this past Saturday, and I brought with me a pair of WE 124.

The A5 came with the original crossovers as well as ones DIY'ed by the previous owner P. I only got to hear the latter, which have attenuators for the 288 drivers. We played several jazz records, including mono Clifford Brown, audiophile fav Saxophone Colossus etc. All with a little subwoofer dialled in (crossovered high).

Equipment (for more detail on some items, please refer to 2016 visit)

Phono 1: Walker Proscenium/Kondo IO-J
Phono 2: Versa Dynamics 2.0/Stanton 380 (with nude elliptical stylus inserted)
Phonoamp 1: Kondo KSL-SFz step-up into Harman Kardon Citation I phono section (via Tape Out)
Phonoamp 2: Lamm LP2
Preamp: Jadis JPS2 (and Harman Kardon Citation I)
Amps: Jadis JA-80, Marantz 8B, WE 124, McIntosh Verdin P-153
Loudspeakers: Altec A5 (DIY crossover)
Subwoofer: Focal/JM Lab

Sonic Impressions Overall, the sound was good and quite coherent, though not the last word in detail or nuance. I am sure a lot more of the strengths of the Altec horn system are still waiting to be unearthed but, for now, it does sound more lived in than horn novice R has a right to expect!

• Jadis JA-80 This has always been a Jadis staple. This pair is the older, pre-KT150, version, modestly tubed with old-stock 12AU7's, Chinese 12AX7's and Russian 6550's. I know this amp quite well and in this setting it delivered sound just as I remembered it - punchy, weighty and smooth, with good transients and macrodynamically adept (with these efficient horns) but with sub-par microdynamics, failing to convey all the low level signals in the music. Painting in broad strokes, so to speak, and that is not quite acceptable for expensive electronics.

• Marantz 8B For the EL34's, this unit has a melange of 3x RFT's and 1x Russian that necessitated some re-biasing. That done, no surprise, the ever reliable 8B turned in a good performance - the microdynamics walked all over the Jadis JA-80, restoring most of the nuances in the music. However, used with the Jadis preamp, it had a significant flaw - the slow transient speed drained the zap out of jazz.

• Western Electric 124 What more can I say! As usual, the WE immediately established its credentials. The music simply came alive: the superb microdynamics revealed infinite shades in the music's rhythm and color. Transient speed was excellent without being breathless. The only criticism that could be levied was a somewhat lean bass in this setting.

• McIntosh Verdin P-153 Now, this is a rarity! Likely this was not intended for audio applications. It employs McIntosh transformers and the typical driver tubes, 2x 12AX7 and 1x 12BH7. Output tubes are 4x 8417. R reported the plates of the 8417's in one amp turning red after an hour of use. We did not listen that long, but what we heard was classic McIntosh sound - Ballsy, big and bold, like the Jadis, but with much better microdynamics, though still not quite in the league of the Marantz, not to mention WE. Right is another pic from the net (click to enlarge).

• Harman Kardon Citation I I mused at the frequent lack of microdynamics. Suspecting the Jadis JPS2 to be inadequate, I asked for the line section of the Citation I to be substituted. We had trouble with the connectors, as so often in R's place, but we did manage for a while. Suffice to say, the Citation I was snappier and much more detailed and articulated in its line stage than the Jadis - it was not even close!

Comments

• Jadis JPS2 As heard, it performed quite sub-optimally in this system. I am pretty sure it is robbing the music of much microdynamics, no more obvious than in its pairing with its own stablemate JA-80! The JPS2 is not a favorite of mine, but I have not been previously aware of such deficiencies in the systems of my friends Paul and Simon (here; the latter in the form of the line stage of JP80). I am not sure whether the deficiencies are intrinsic or if it is amenable to tube rolling, but my feeling was echoed by this comment posted by a user on the net: "...does anyone know any other pre which has the midrange magic of Jadis JPS2 plus more resolution on complex orchestral music and more control in the bass?..." I am also curious because Dick Olsher, a reviewer with priorities somewhat in line with mine, specifically lauded the similarly configured but cheaper Jadis JPL (one chassis, no separate power supply) for its dynamic prowess. For this write-up, I went back to my post on my one of my early visits to R, and was reminded that I had already documented the problem when I much preferred my Shindo on that occasion.

• Harman Kardon Citation I Once again, the Citation I showed its mettle. Just as it worked well with my YL horns (here), it seemed to work well with R's A5's. I also urge you to re-read what I said about it in our last preamp shootout (here). Next time, I'd like to spend more time with it IF the connection quirks were dealt with.

• Jadis JA-80 I have long familiarity with this amp, since the 80's in fact, when a friend owned it. But I had never really taken to it then; I only liked it when it was used with GEC KT88, but then that was almost solely due to the excellence of those valves, which also could transform the McIntosh MC275 from a good amp to a great one! Speaking of which, the Jadis JA-80 is no more powerful than an MC275 in good condition, and the latter only employs half the number of output valves and occupies a fraction of the real estate.

• Marantz 8B To me, the Marantz 8B is an evergreen. It is not perfect, nor does it immediately grab you in any parameter, but it never puts a wrong foot forward, safeguards the big musical picture, and rewards patience and time spent. It should be partnered with a modern preamp of lively presentation (think ARC, Shindo etc), or else sound may be a little slow.

• McIntosh Verdin P-153 I think this one has potential, if one manages to get around the conundrum that is 8417, famous for its excellent sound, rarity and sometimes finicky behavior (QC issues for later production tubes and issues of ?oscillation). Given its solid state rectification (selenium) and power envelope, I wager it should sound like a more powerful MI-75, but not quite in the eschelon of tube-rectified MC-60. Just a guess.

• WE 124 Simply, in a league of its own.

• The Lunch Raison d'etre for the day? The specially sourced lamb, served with risotto and Shiitake mushroom sauce, was an absolute delight, washed down with a very fine 2005 Saint-Emilion and a mature Cotes du Rhone. Surely enough to make one forget audio woes. What more can one ask for?

Overview: Klipsch Classics, Part III - The Best La Scala System I have ever heard

Top pic taken from the sunken Living Room. Bottom pic taken from elevated Dining Room. Click to enlarge.
 
Overview: Klipsch Classics, Part III - The Best La Scala System I have ever heard
Yumcha Diaries: April 4, 2015
Talk-Horns: Klipsch, the One-Stop Solution, Part III

Note: Klipsch, the One-Stop Solution Part I treats La Scala in depth; Part II is an Overview of the series; Part IV is on the later Quartet/Forte.

No, it may be the best system of any sort I have heard (whlee thinks so and I tend to agree).

After yumcha on Saturday, whlee, trazom, captain, jules, oozz (Edwin) and I went to Bernard's spacious home in Clearwater Bay. Regrettably, ama333 did not join us. It turned out to be one of the happiest days in my HiFi life!

It is very rare in HK to encounter a split-level living-dining room. Here, the dining room is elevated. The total area must be close to 1000", and ceiling of the living room is at least 15' tall. Equipment:

CDP: Naim CD5XS; Ekco EV55DP
Turntable: Clearaudio Concept MC
SUT: Audio-Technica AT-1000T
Preamp: Marantz 7 (re-issue); also (April Music) Eximus DP-1
Amps: Marantz 9 (re-issue)
Loudspeakers: Klipsch La Scala (alnico; 16 ohm); also JBL 4343

How Two Cousins came into our HiFi Lives Let me take a detour first and introduce you to the brothers. About a year ago, Alfred, aka ama333, joined the discussion thread entitled JC's Letterbox on review33.com. He finally came to our yumcha and now is a regular. Alfred uses the Klipsch Belle you have heard about previously, as well as the JBL 4344. He then brought his cousin Bernard to yumcha too. Alfred wanted to hear my La Scala, so one day the two cousins came by my old house and I once again connected my alnico La Scala after many year's neglect. I was a little surprised that from the word go the La Scala gave all music all the flesh and blood they needed. As they say, the rest is history.

Bernard immediately took a liking to the big bold sound of the La Scala. He also liked the vinyl playback so much that soon after he bought his vinyl system (the SUT actually belonged to his cousin). And some time later, my La Scala pair became his!

Previous visit to Bernard Before the La Scala took over, it was the JBL 4343, placed not in the positions you see now in the pics, but along the long wall, flanking the equipment rack and the AV speakers on stands (facing the beige sofa). Sound was excellent, with the vinyl outstripping the digital by a substantial margin. In turn this impressed our friend trazom so much that he took up vinyl again (see here) and now is happily cleaning and spinning his very good collection of pop LPs!

Initial Sonic Impressions

• Initially the La Scala's were placed along the long wall, facing the beige sofa. When we arrived, Bernard was using the Ekco CDP's analogue out into the Eximus DP-1 (used as preamp). Sound was a bit pale, treble a touch hot and the whole thing just did not have the juice the La Scala is famous for. In fact, I thought his previous setup of JBL 4343 was better.

• Eximus DP1 WE suspected some of the flat and white quality to the Eximus DP1's preamp section. Our suspicions were confirmed when the Marantz 7 was swapped in; immediately, the sound gained much flesh and tactility. Eximus has been well reviewed by the audio press (see official website) but this its performance here has been disappointing. We happened to have the Sokolov Salzburg Recital CD and LP around. The LP fared better but the CD still should convey more of the fanciful and mercurial character of the master pianist's playing.

• Ekco CDP Ekco used to be a radio and television manufacturer. The official website gives a detailed history of the company up to the 60's but did not go further and did not mention that it is now part of the Chinese IAG group. In fact, to my eyes their products look like Chinese products in new skin; this is certainly true of the round window displaying the tube in the EV55DP. We did not like its somewhat sluggish leading edge. Changing to the Naim CD5XS brought much improved articulation, rhythm and pace. Sokolov became a more subtle pianist but still not quite what we know he should sound like on this popular album.

• After all that work, sound was much better. I forgot but trazom reminded that we had made the same, exact changes to the system last time to improve the JBL's performance. Still, sound was not quite what I know can be obtained. On the Mingus Ah Um re-issue LP, while the sound was decent and full of details, the brass should sound more throaty. Bass was somewhat woolly and truncated and sound did not fully open up and project like a good horn should. The La Scala's sounded more "confined" compared to when they were in my house - something is waiting to be let out here.

• I did not expect Bernard to say "yes" when I suggested that he should try the La Scala's placed along the short "wall" (the windows). Well, we men of action just jumped up and did it. Easily firmly gripped, La Scala must be the easiest loudspeaker to move around. well, we just plonked them down and did not fine-tune. Again, the rest is history!

Sonic Impressions (after Re-Placement)

• From the first note, the La Scala I knew came back; everything bloomed and birds sang! Everybody had a big smile and the party began! The sound was just so much BIGGER!

• With pop and jazz, the sound was truly live, and difficult to fault. The percussion and bass attacks of the Let It Rain on Patricia barber's Companion re-issue LP were perfectly rendered, fast in transient response, colorful in timber, an assault on the senses. Most importantly, they sounded like real people right there in the living room.

• With chamber music, as in jazz, the muscians were palpably present in the living room. We played a mono Casals/Horzowski CD (oop; Philips) and Casals was with us, his inimitable tone enchanting.

• To us concert lovers, the sound of the dining room was even better, and exactly conveyed the sound of the concert hall balcony. With the two Living Stereo re-issue LPs, Stokowski Rhapsodies and Piatigorsky Dvorak Cello Concerto, the full orchestra were laid out below us. The solo passages and horn tutti were absolutely faithful facsimiles of the concert experience from above. whlee was absolutely delighted, and I haven't seen him like this in years!

• For a final cut, we played 王菲 “天空”. This cut usually sounds rather white and monotonous in the majority of setups, but here it is fully fleshed out and atmospheric. What a fitting end to the day,  “天空” is "The Sky" in Chinese, and the La Scala serves as a window to it!

• Lest you think I have lost my faculties for judgement, I am obliged to point out the imperfections in the system, especially when it comes to classical orchestral music replay: The mass violins need an expansion in scale and nuance; the bass, while good, needs to reach a little lower; and just a little more ease at climaxes would not be amiss. But I think these can be easily achieved with further tuning.

Thoughts

• There is no question that speaker choice and placement are the most important factors in one's system.

• Placement The most valuable given asset is a good room, and Bernard is more fortunate than most of us. Yet, the previous incarnations before re-placement serve as reminders that our habits (or constraining factors, such as WAF) are often (understandably) at odds with the needs of the system. In a way, we are our worst enemies. Do not fight or neglect the room!

• Speaker Choice Once again, the experience shows that horns are irreplaceable, and this was exactly what oozz and I talked about on our long way home. There is no better conveyance of the live music quality than horns (oozz's own German Physiks is a variation on the horn). This setup is not expensive, yet it gives more of the illusion of the live event than systems we have heard that cost millions of dollars. Also, the simplicity of the system should give tweakers much thought! So many people spend megabucks on power treatment, cables and tweaks etc; yet all they get are frustrations. Attend to the basics!

• Bigger rooms breathe better There is no getting around it. The bigger the room, the better the sound, provided  the equipment is up to it (no better choice than horns). We have heard good efforts on Maggies and planars, but they are completely dwarfed by this setup. I agree with whlee that this is overall the best system we have heard.

• It is really gratifying to hear a system truly transformed. People claim all sorts of improvements, but epiphanies do not come so often without drastic measures, usually not voodoo but attention to basics.

• What I would do In this system, were it so fortunately mine, within aesthetically acceptable limits (and WAF) I'd fine-tune the placement. I'd also try to drive it with less power (SET or, as whlee thinks, low-powered PP amps). I think even better sound can be easily achieved without much cost.

• The Klipsch Lesson Once again, the experience confirmed one of my convictions, detailed in previous articles. Well executed, a Klipsch system outperforms most ad-hog conglomerates of arguably superior components. The coherence is compelling.

• Is this the best system I have heard? Not in all parameters, but in terms of the live experience, it is (surpassing my own efforts)!

What A Happy Day!