Brief Review: Sonus faber Electa Amator II, Sony SCD-XA5400ES

Letter from NYC 2012 (23): A Wonderful Re-Acquaintance 

Brief Review: Sonus faber Electa Amator II, Part II

Brief Review: Sony SCD-XA5400ES 

Brief Review: McIntosh 2200

Talk SACD

Since we moved into the larger apartment with dedicated audio room I have concentrated on my big speakers and not fired up the Sf. Just before I left this time I did so because a friend who has the Mk I wanted to hear them. As his Mk I has developed driver problem he wanted to buy mine. Incidentally, if anyone knows where to fix early Sf drivers in the USA, let me know! I'd also like to hear from fellow EA II owners regarding the surrounds of the drivers: my woofer's is rubber and the rear unit's foam (a bit unusual to see both in the same speaker).

I have always loved these speakers. Read my brief review Part I, as well as my Sf Overview.

My audio room is now dominated by my large YL horns (roughly 2/5 into the room from the front wall). I placed the EA II just in front of the inner edge of the behemoths. The rear driver had about 6" clearance. The loudspeakers were a little less than 6' apart, and listening distance was 7' or so. Equipment used:

Digital: Sony SCD-XA5400ES SACD/CDP
Analog: Thorens TD-124/SME 3009i/Denon DL-304
Preamp: Shindo Monbrison
Amp: McIntosh 2200

In Love Again

Despite my suboptimal placement, and despite these not having been played for more than 2 years, I was immediately taken by the sound emanating from the EA II. My friend's exclamation a few second into the first track sums up a good part of the allure: "...what the heck, such a big and deep stage..." Indeed, the soundstage was wide and deep. The important thing is the precise images are life-sized and solidly fleshed out, not the tiny-weeny ones of many a bookshelf. As noted before, the string sound was just luscious and en masse, as it should be, but rarely are. Amazingly, the boldness of presentation almost measures up to the big YL horns. So, using a cliche, they sound like big speakers.

I think this kind of Sf sound is now partially gone. Current models sound "updated" and much more modern. But I prefer Sf's golden age. It's too bad, since I decided to keep them; perhaps i just have to unload something else...

Now, some comments on some of the auxiliary gears used:

Sony SCD-XA5400ES I really had not listened to this SACD/CD player much before, though I had set down my initial impression. This time, I decided to just run it in for 24 hours. The sound opened up further and revealed much nuance. Just an example. I compared again the original red book Triloka CD with the current Analogue Productions hybrid SACD/CD of Hugh Masekela's Hope. Previously I preferred the RBCD, which seemed to have more oomph. This time, the story is not so simple. While the RBCD still seemed to have a bit more of the primal rawness (which befits some material here), there is no question the SACD layer is very close in this regard but a lot more detailed and nuanced in the vocals and instrumental timber - more analog if you will. the CD layer of the hybrid disc also comes pretty close to the SACD. The Living Stereo hybrid SACDs also sound brilliant (Reiner's Spain is just an example; I think they sound better than the earlier RBCDs due to better re-mastering). So, a wonderful SACD player! It is either phased out or being discontinued, but you can still get it.

McIntosh 2200 And now, a word on this venerable machine which has served me well. I had written about my previous listening experience. This time, it matched the EA II almost perfectly, giving excellent control but a warm and luxurious sound (of course with a tube preamp). I have heard many Sf's with sharper and more analytical and more powerful solid state amps, but I think I prefer these old McIntosh's for their musicality. A bargain!

Talk SACD

Talk SACD
Marantz DV-6001
Sony SCD-1/SCD-777ES

As you may have noticed, I have added an SACD corner to the right-hand column. The reason is, there are many wonderful SACDs available in the library and I have been playing them recently with great pleasure.

At the start I must state I am not an SACD expert; far from it, as I have just too many LPs and CDs, I have never really "seriously" taken up the format.

When the format was first launched, my reaction was pretty negative. Many of the early so-called SACDs were just re-mastered from PCM sources, and they did not sound too good (even atrocious) through the earlier players.

Later, I was gradually converted to the view that the format is a good one. First, many red-book CDs that were recorded in DSD (like many Sony's, one of my favorite labels, sonically speaking) sounded very good, despite being 44.1 down-mixes. Second, I got to hear at my own home some real SACDs, and they sounded superb. Here is my experience.

"Real" SACD (Single layer)
Some years ago I decided to buy a player that can play SACD. As I did not need HDMI or watch much video (to this day I still watch VCD sometimes, remember that format? Bet you don't have it) I bought a second-hand lowly Cambridge Audio DVD-87, little brother to the rave-reviewed DVD-89.

My friend whlee lent me his collection of pure SACDs (single layer), including several Keiko Lee recordings, and I must say the sound through my lowly DVD-87 was sensational. Most noticeable were the naturalness of the recordings and the dark background. Then I borrowed the famous Sony Yo-Yo Ma Solo recording (I think the first SACD on the market), and I bought it!

Hybrid SACD
While the single layer SACDs sound great, the hybrid SACD/CD, which is the majority, had gained an undeserved bad reputation. This is unfortunate, a result of the hurry to make money in the early days of the format. As I mentioned before, many of the early so-called SACDs were just re-mastered from PCM sources, and they did not always compare favorably to the original CD.

But the situation now is quite different. There are many real DSD recordings, and their SACD layer sound superior even on hybrid discs. Many labels make DSD recordings now, and most sound very good. For me, recordings made by Dutch Polyhymnia (almost everything on the Pentatone label, and many on other labels; see their website) always sound great, no surprise as this company is an off-spin of the always reliable Philips.

Newer re-mastering of old material has improved. Even cheap hybrids can sound very good. The RCA Living Stereo SACD/CD issues are great examples. They sell at mid-price and, if you ask me, sound better than the older series (even on the CD layer).

Sony SCD-1/SCD-777ES
Basically they are almost the same player and Sony's flagship. Thanks to the loan by my friend 300b123 and transportation by com-buddy, I had the opportunity to listen to the SCD-777ES in my own home, for quite a period. The player obviously played SACDs better than CDs. However, even then, like many of the latter-day Sony CDPs, it has a trace of brightness that was hard to eradicate, more pronounced when playing CD. I think the just discontinued (but still sometimes available) SCD-XA5400ES is a better player overall (my write-up, even just an initial impression).

As most people have a lot more CDs than SACDs, many eventually gave up the format because the CD part of their multi-players is not up to par compared with dedicated CD players. That was exactly what happened to my friend whlee, who sold his Sony SCD-777ES together with all his SACDS after hearing Revox and Micromega.

I think if you have the space and do appreciate SACD, it is better to have 2 dedicated players, one for CD and one for SACD. This is what I do. Except in a low-cost system, a multi-player would not do.

Marantz DV-6001
(TAS review, HiFi Choice review)
This I got at a close-out in HK. It performance has continued to surprise me. recently I have been re-vamping my setups and I have decided to have SACD capability in my reference setup. Just now this is what I am using:

CD: Audio Research CD2 as transport-Gotham XLR digital cable
Digital Switching Station: Genesis Digital Lens.
DAC1: Audio Note DAC-2 (old version; PCM-63) connected with Gotham coaxial digital cable
DAC2: Musical Fidelity M1 connected by Gotham XLR digital cable
SACD: Marantz DV-6001 analogue out
Preamp: Kondo M7
Amp: Elekit 2300 or Wavac MD-300B (Ongaku is too hot in the summer)
Loudspeakers: Tannoy Canterbury

I think I do not have to describe much and you will know what I am getting at just by looking at the equipment list. The setup is quite revealing and the CD playback is of quite reasonable quality, yet the humble DV-6001 has a place in the system.

All the library SACDs are hybrid discs. Playing SACD, through its own analogue out, the DV-6001 stands up to my CD setups. The same disc's CD layer played on my CD setup may have even better control, slam and brilliance, but the DV-6001 has a warmth and natural finesse that is quite irresistible, just don't crank it up too much. Not absolutely necessary maybe, but good to have in the system.

Regular CDs sound warm through the DV-6001, but resolution is not of the highest class. The digital output is of quite good quality, and through the MF M1 DAC the sound is hard to fault, and should shame many a mid-priced CDP.

Purists will frown upon this (all) multi-player as being just "fake" SACD playback and more PCM conversion: the vast majority of DACs these days covert both high-bit PCM (CD, DVD-A) and DSD into low-bit PCM before the final conversion to analogue (one exception is Wolfson chip, which can directly convert DSD to analogue). But I think there is something inexplicable in the extraction and conversion here, as even so the SACD sound is still lovely, and different from the CD layer. It is too bad the digital output mutes itself with SACD, but the DV-6001s own DAC section is satisfying enough.

A bargain that is more comfortable to listen to than earlier Sony flagships; current models from Marantz are likely just as good (as SACD player).