June 9, 2000
Subject: System matching
Sweden calling...
Hi Wes! Because English is not "my"
language, I have to warn you for what might not be correctly spelled -- or other
grammatical nonsense. I hope that I'm not disturbing you either, but since you have your
own mailing address, it seems that you have an open communication line, even to Sweden.
OK, I wish you could, very briefly, give
me good "system advice." I guess it is quite hopeless to transform opinion
from one system to another, and overall I don't think it's fair to give an expert that
responsibility. At the same, I must admit that I eat every inkspot in your columns, trying
to imaging what my opinion would have been.
I normally use music listening as a
"soul-cleaner." With one wife, four children, a red cat and a turtle from
Greece, I think I sometimes have the right to use our sofa for late-night
listening. Since I have no special favorite music style or artist, my only concern is to
have the performances as close to live as it can get, presented in the room. These moments
can still put me in such a mood; it feels like a good, smooth, mental free fall into a
black hole. (When I awake, I’m sure a funny smile can be seen on my face.) Back in
reality, I'm sure my wife has a better, kinder and more pleased husband (the turtle has no
comments to that).
My system today contains:
- Quad 77 integrated amp and CD player
- Totem Model 1 loudspeakers,
- Cogan-Hall Intermezzo cables.
The Quad system will be replaced, and I also
want to update the Totems to the Signature model. I have no intentions to have sources
inputs other than the CD player and will therefore have a very straight combination, pure
and simple. This is what I have looked at:
- Wadia 830 CD player (running directly into the power amp)
- Simaudio Moon I-5 integrated amplifier
- Simaudio Celeste 4050SE amplifier
- Audion Silver Night 300B amplifier
- Bryston 4B-ST amplifier
- Pathos Twin Tower integrated amplifier
- Pathos INPower amplifier
- Quad II Forty amplifier
- Lavardin AP amplifier
- Lavardin IS integrated amplifier
OK, value-for-the-money (so they say), what's
your opinion and advice?
PS: Today weather conditions here in
Scandinavia is dry and hot. Summer is just around the corner, and tonight my wife is
having a combination of outdoor barrel-bath and barbecue. Her working colleagues at the
hospital are having a retreat or something. The cat is screaming for food and the
children’s homework comes next.
Janne
Dear Janne:
Thanks for sending me a letter that
talks about the importance of music and its "soul-cleaning" properties. I can
certainly relate to that! And your letter reminds all of us that our hi-fis aren’t
the only important things in our lives -- we all have wives, children, cats, and even
turtles that share our attention and emotions. (And, I have to add, if my wife were in the
backyard fixing to have a barrel bath/barbecue, I sure wouldn’t be indoors at the
computer!)
But your letter also illustrates how
hard it is to give system advice by e-mail. While I have played with the Wadia 830 and
found it a remarkable CD player, I have varying degrees of experience with the amplifiers
on your list. I’ve heard the Lavardins, Audion, and Pathos amps only for short
periods at hi-fi shows (and they all impressed me in that context), while I have had
hands-on experience with Simaudio and Bryston (also impressive, but oh-so-different!).
And here’s what makes it even
harder, I don’t know the Swedish market at all, so I have no idea what any of these
products costs there -- and that means I can’t comment at all about bang-for-the-buck
(or is that kick for the kroner?).
So I can’t say much in response
to your question, other than those all look like good choices for good-sounding systems.
However, there’s such a wide range of amps, from SE monoblocks to M. Lavardin’s
radical solid-state gear, that there’s also a wide range of sonic possibilities --
surely not every one of them could be to your liking. So listen carefully -- and remember
to enjoy the journey. You’ll have a much better time of it that way.
ATB...Wes
June 6, 2000
Subject: To bi-amp or not to...
It's good to see your byline again! I suspect
that my question is one that gets asked a lot, but here goes: I am into the second year of
my "new" system, which took many months of reading reviews, auditioning
components, and finally forking over the cash to put together. The final nudge came in the
form of a very positive review by your compatriot, Bob Harley, for the Simaudio I-5
integrated amp. I coupled this with a Theta Miles and Totem Tabu speakers to make a very
satisfying system.
So where's the problem? Well, as in most
things, it takes time for the flaws to reveal themselves after the first blush of love is
past. Specifically, in large-scale orchestral works (say one of your favorites: Mahler's
Third Symphony) the sound can start to congest. Play a recording like Alfred Brendel's
Schubert D960 and he is sitting in the room with you -- wow. So with all that said, is
there a valid reason to suspect that adding a second I-5, and either vertically or
horizontally bi-amping, would relieve the "congestion" found on some large-scale
works (played at concert levels)? Or would I be better served by one of the more powerful
amps in place of the I-5? Understand that my budget will not stretch for the likes of say
an ARC VT-200, let alone an ARC VT-100.
Regards,
David W. Hoffman
Dear David:
While some audiophiles deny that
"passive" bi-amping (using several amplifiers with the existing crossover for
your loudspeakers) has any effect, I have found that it can give you greater
control over a speaker’s individual drivers. One way to test your setup to see if
you’ll derive any benefit from this type of bi-amplification is to think mono. Find a
monaural recording of a big symphony and listen to it through one loudspeaker as you have
them set up now -- don’t get musically involved now, you’re listening for
problems! Now take a Y-adaptor and feed a single channel's signal through both halves of
your amp and listen again with one channel driving the highs and the other driving the
lows.
If you hear improvements, and I
suspect you will, you’ll probably be satisfied with picking up another Simaudio amp
of equal power. If you don’t hear improvements where you want ‘em, you should
probably think about going to a single, more powerful stereo amp. I’m not a huge fan
of passively bi-amping with amps of different power outputs because I’ve never been
able to get it to sound right. YMMV.
And one more thing: Everybody talks
about how much power is freed up when you no longer have to drive the bass -- well, it
works the other way, too. It takes a lot of power to drive the complex midrange/tweeter
signal. So much so on some loudspeakers that the counter-intuitive maneuver of putting the
more powerful amp on top might actually be more successful.
ATB...Wes
June 3, 2000
Subject: Preamps: naked without remote?
By how much, if at all, will a fine preamp
with a remote, such as the Placette Audio Line-Stage Preamp and Remote Volume Control fall
short of the performance of equivalent preamplifiers by Lamm, CAT, etc. which proudly
forsake remotes?
Charlie Houston
Dear Charlie:
Not one jot. Most remote-controlled
preamps today utilize either microprocessor-controlled relays linked to a network of
low-noise metal-foil resistors or motorized pots to make loudness and balance remote
controllable. Neither method has an adverse effect on the audio signal, unlike some of the
cruder attenuators of yesteryear.
The best-sounding preamps I’ve
used (CJ ART, Mark Levinson No. 32, Ayre K-1) have all included remote control, as did the
Lamm L1 preamp I reviewed in Stereophile several years ago.
I think the age of the "hairshirt
audiophile" -- that is, the audiophile who proudly avoided convenience -- is over.
These days, since there's no sonic downside to having a remote control, there's no reason
to avoid it.
ATB...Wes
June 2, 2000
Subject: VTL TT-25 review
After reading your review, and one in the
latest TAS, I'm very interested in these TT-25s. However, I can't seem to find
any VTL dealers, and VTL hasn't answered my email. (The website hasn't been updated in
nearly three years, so I wonder whether they care about the 'net presence.)
I did find a couple of people selling used
TT-25s, but one comment in your review makes me cautious. You say that the current TT-25
is an improved model. Do you have any more information to offer? Has there been revisions
to the TT-25 or were you referring to the TT-25 as being an improvement on previous Tiny
Triodes in the line?
Thanks,
Michael
Dear Michael:
I’m surprised you haven’t
been able to get in touch with VTL -- I’ve always found them responsive, even when I
sold gear and that meant I was calling with a problem. I meant that the TT-25 was an
improved version of the Tiny Triode amp originally reviewed by Corey Greenberg and Sam
Tellig way back when. I am not aware of any revisions to the TT-25.
ATB...Wes
June 1, 2000
Subject: Audio system
I am planning to separate my system in two --
one for audio, the other for audio/video. The audio system will be minimalist. It will
only have a CD player and turntable and two amps. I have found an amp (AudioSource Amp
Two) that allows direct connection; it has provision for both CD and preamp inputs. The
problem is that you can't connect both the CD player and record player at the same
time. I don't intend to play both at the same time.
My question is, what would happen if I were to
plug both machine at the same time? Could it be a fire hazard? Or, should I bite the
bullet and get a preamp? Any info you can provide will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jude Maignan
Dear Jude:
I doubt you’d run a fire hazard
plugging both a phono section and a CD player in at the same time (through a Y-adaptor, I
assume?). But such an unbuffered setup could load down whichever source you were playing
with fairly audible (and really yucky) sonic results. If you don’t want to go the
preamp route, try to find a reasonably high-quality switching box, such as the ones Dean
Roumanis used to make before joining Krell. Those were extremely high-quality units
and I don’t know of anyone producing anything like them today.
ATB...Wes
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