May 18, 2001
Subject: Power amp
I would like to ask you of a good power
amp that will match up with my current system. I have three amps in my mind, namely
Bryston 3BST, Classé CA101 and Musical Fidelity A3CR. My current system consists of the
following: Cambridge Audio Disc magic transport, Cambridge Audio S700
DAC, Acurus RL11 preamp, PSB Stratus Bronze Speakers, AudioQuest VSD 1
coaxial digital cable, Kimber Kable PBJ interconnects and Kimber Kable 8TC
speaker wires. I would appreciate any assistance that you can give me.
Sincerely,
Joel
Hi Joel:
Those are all really good amps. Have you heard any
of them with your PSBs? That'd be my acid test -- which sounded best. Failing a chance to
audition all of them, I'd have to say that Bryston's 20-year warranty would be a major
factor in my decision.
ATB...Wes
May 17, 2001
Subject: Perpetual Technologies P1/P3
Wes,
Read your glowing report about Perpetual Tech's combo. You
seem a little optimistic. Just kidding.
I had last year sold my Bel Canto DAC1. It worked OK, I
thought, but when I bought a Sony SACD player (777 ES) it didn't take long for me to see
that there was absolutely no improvement with the Bel Canto. I mean like 0.
Now, more SACDs are out and they are really superb on the
whole. I did attend the show last month in New York and heard the Perpetual demo for the
speaker correction on some MartinLogans. The improvement was noticeable. They will
hopefully obtain the software soon for my B&W 803 Nautilus, but being that the DAC1
had the same chip as the P3, do you believe that this upgrade is significant based on the
experience I had?
Also, have you heard a SACD player and/or the 777 ES in
normal Redbook mode? Some people feel its built in DAC is very good, but others disagree.
All I can say is that Bel Canto DAC1 couldn't improve on the 777.
Regards,
Roman
Hi Roman:
Yes, I think the Sonys sound awfully good playing
back conventional CDs, although I'm not ready to say there's no improvement to be gained
from outboard DACs. I'll keep listening to find out.
Speaker correction is something digital can do
extremely well, although in my experience -- and I wish to stress I have not heard the
Perpetual speaker software -- speaker correction is far less important than room
correction, although neither is a panacea. I am eagerly looking forward to auditioning the
home test kit from Perpetual, which will allow users to write a custom program for their
speaker/room combinations.
That's exciting.
ATB...Wes
May 16, 2001
Subject: Spendor BC1
I have a pair of Spendor BC1 loudspeakers (30 years old).
They are in nice condition and are internally rewired. Plus I have a Musical Fidelity E10,
Marantz CD63 Signature, Musical Fidelity X-Cans and Sennheiser HD600 with van den Hul D102
interconnects.
Can I improve the overall sound of the system by buying a
better CD player and/or amp (Rega, Naim, Musical fidelity??) and /or Stax electrostatic
headphones?
I use headphones for 60% of my serious listening.
I like lifelike, natural sound. I do not like hard or
abrasive sound and listen to a mix of blues, folk and vocal jazz. My current favorites are
Van Morrison, Eva Cassidy, Billie Holiday, etc.
Any ideas?
David
Hi David:
Yes, I think you can get a lot of improvement out
of your system with a change or two. First off, yes, you can improve your front-end. I
highly recommend the Sony SCD-333ES for under $1000. It will make a huge difference --
even when playing CDs. And, of course, you'll be able to play SACDs, which are incredibly
satisfying.
I'm in the process of reviewing the new Stax
offerings, so watch these pages for that, but you already have a superb pair of headphones
in the HD600s. Improve your headphone amp (I love HeadRoom's Max with the HD600s) and
you'll be amazed at what they can do.
ATB...Wes
May 15, 2001
Subject: Opinion of Soliloquy 5.0s vs. 5.3
I auditioned both speakers today and found I was torn
between the 5.0's excellent soundstage and imaging and the 5.3's bass performance. Though
the 5.3s are full-range speakers, I found their bass to overwhelm the treble at times. Did
you find the same thing? Which of the two speakers do you prefer?
Thanks,
John
Hi John:
I haven't heard the 5.3s, except at hi-fi shows, so
I can't offer an informed opinion. However, what you describe hearing sounds more like a
room interaction than a speaker defect. I'd move the 5.3s or change my listening position
and audition them again -- preferably in your own room.
ATB...Wes
May 15, 2001
Subject: Turntable
Hi Wes!
Hope you're having a GREAT day! I need some advice. I have
a Denon AVR-3300 receiver amplifier and Bose 1200 home-theater speakers. I am in need of a
(direct drive?) turntable, and I have about $300 to spend. What do you recommend?
TIA and God bless.
Tom Elliott
Hi Tom:
If there's some reason you must have a
direct-drive table, then Denon is your only choice in your price range. However, I'd
recommend you look at a belt-drive turntable -- they sound better. Look at Music Hall's
website, www.musichallaudio.com, for some choices.
ATB...Wes,
May 13, 2001
Subject: Biamp/biwire question
Dear Wes:
I need your advice. My system now has a Transcendent Spimd
stereo OTL (30Wpc from 6C33CBs) biwired into Gallo Nucleus References. As background to
these marvelous enclosureless, crossoverless speakers: they are two spherical 12"
"Bassballs" sitting one atop the other. The top Bassball has a 6.5"
Dynaudio with a CDT cylindrical tweeter (kicking in at about 3kHz). The lower Bassball is
not a woofer but merely the same Bassball as the top Dynaudio but without the tweeter.
Both Bassballs cover the full frequency spectrum. The Bassballs are wired in series to
produce an 87dB sensitivity at 8 ohms.
I am receiving a pair of 2A3 SETs, which I wish to biamp
(3.5Wpc) into the Gallos, either the lower or top Bassball. What is the wiring for this
setup and what other recommendations would you give me for this experiment?
Many thanks,
Richard
Hi Richard:
I don't think you should biamp with two amps with
such differing power outputs. The gain differential would be a real problem.
Of course, I haven't tried this, so I could be
wrong. Go ahead and biamp, using the Transcendent on the bottom Bassball and the 2A3s on
the full-range one. I can't imagine you'd damage anything with the experiment, I just
don't think it will be a success.
Feel free to let me know, either way.
ATB...Wes
May 9, 2001
Subject: Do I need a preamp?
Hello Wes:
I listened to the Audio Aero Capitole 24/192 CD player a
week ago at my local dealer with a Blue Circle preamp and power amp driving Focus Audio
speakers. I was so impressed I purchased it immediately. The player was new and just out
of the box! As I have read the review of this player, it seems to work best driving the
power amp directly. I requested the dealer to bypass the preamp. However, I feel it is not
as dynamic, and everything seems smaller in size after he did what I wanted. I wonder if
this player needs more run-in before the comparison is valid (the volume pot) while I wait
for my player to arrive in three weeks. I note that the dealer turned the volume of the CD
player to maximum and controlled the volume at the preamp, which I feel worked best.
Finally, will running balanced XLR-terminated cables be better with my Ayre V-1 power amp?
My speakers are the ProAc Response 1.5s with cables by AudioQuest.
Best Regards
Ivan Wong Siu Man
Hi Ivan:
I tend to agree with you. Despite all the arguments
for why a passive preamp should sound better, I think that systems that forgo gain
at that stage sound wimpy and, yes, small. Like you, I've been impressed by the Audio Aero
Capitole 24/192, and I look forward to reviewing it soon -- but I think you're going to
want a preamp with gain in the long one. And since you're using the V-1, I strongly urge
you to get one that runs balanced.
ATB…Wes
May 6, 2001
Subject: Balance control on amplifiers
Hello Wes,
Many mid- to high-end preamplifiers or integrated
amplifiers don't have a balance control. What disadvantages or limitations can this have
on music listening?
Thanks and best regards,
Ehud Hadas
Hi Ehud:
This is a holdover from the days when a balance
control required the use of a potentiometer. Audiophiles didn't want the inclusion of a
signal-squandering pot in the signal path and tended to buy preamplifiers that omitted
them. Manufacturers noticed this and stopped including them, which reinforced the idea
that real audiophiles don't use tone controls.
These days, remote control has spurred R&D on
controls and few companies actually use pots any more -- resistor ladders are far more
common. If you have a preamp, such as the Conrad-Johnson Premier 17LS, which has separate
volume controls for the two channels, you have a modern balance control -- a darn
good-sounding one. In fact, most remote-controlled preamps take this approach.
Pros and cons? Well, I don't tend to use balance
controls a lot, since I tend to tune my speaker placement to throw the soundstage I want
at my listening position, but that's not always possible. If you want to make small
balance adjustments and your preamp doesn't offer them, you're SOL.
IOW it used to be a big deal, but isn't really any
more.
ATB...Wes
May 4, 2001
Subject: AES-25 Super Amp
Hi Wes,
As an owner of the AES Super Amp, I agree with everything
said in your review. This amp is a real killer, but it can be made even better by changing
the driver tubes. Replacing the Sovteks with Tesla E88CCs extends the apparent bandwidth,
reduces glare in the upper mids, and yields a much bigger soundstage. The really strange
thing about the amp with these tubes is that it sounds absolutely huge and very linear.
Within normal power ranges, my AE-25 produces a bigger, deeper soundstage than that from
several high-power solid-state amps, such as Bryston, Odyssey, McCormack, etc. Most people
don't understand that a "low-output" tube amp can actually sound bigger than an
amp with several times the power.
My Super Amp drives a pair of B&W Matrix 805s, and I
must say that it is a marriage made in heaven. The combination is extremely musical AND
linear, with front-to-back depth that is truly astounding.
Robert Hoffman
Hi Robert:
Thanks for the info -- I'm posting it here so that
anyone who wants can try some tube rolling and see for themselves.
ATB…Wes
May 2, 2001
Subject: Lyra Lydian or Benz L2 for a Linn?
Dear Wes:
I have a Lingo-ed Linn LP12 with a Ekos tonearm and a Linto
phono amplifier, which is fed into an Audio Research CA-50 integrated amp. I'm looking to
replace my cartridge, and I have only around $1200 to spend. Linn, of course, suggests
their Klyde cartridge, but I haven't heard many good things about it. I listen mainly to
rock and jazz.
Any suggestions?
Your fan,
John
Hi John:
Non-Linnies tend to under rate the Linn cartridges,
IMO. I've heard the Klyde, and I like it myself -- not to imply that either the Lydian or
the L2 are slouches. All three cartridges are very good, albeit different. I'd probably
make my final decision based on my dealer. Linn dealers, no matter what else you say about
them, are usually quite competent at turntable set up, especially for Linn products. So
I'd expect for the Klyde to get the set up it deserves. If you have equal confidence in
your Lyra dealer, that'd be a good choice if you like a slightly more luscious tonal
balance. Or if the Benz dealer earns your trust, it's trackability and even tonality are
also praiseworthy.
So, in the absence of a compelling imperative in
the product itself, make your decision based on who you think is best at the nuts and
bolts of turntable setup.
ATB...Wes
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