tas_185.pdf

THE 2008

Contents

EdiTORS’

CHOiCE

LOUDSPEAKERS

AWARdS

SUBWOOFERS

POWERS AMPLIFIERS

INTEGRATED AMPs

POWER CONDITIONERS

STEREO RECEIvERS, CD RECEIvERS, AND ALL-IN-ONE SySTEMS

PREAMPLIFIERS

PHONOSTAGES

MUSIC SERvERS

DIGITAL PROCESSORS

DIGITAL SOURCES

TURNTABLES AND RECORD PLAyERS

TONEARMS

EvERy PRiCE LEvEL. P31

CARTRIDGES

TUNERS

INTERCONNECTS, SPEAKER CABLES & POWER CORDS HEADPHONES & HEADPHONE AMPS

THiS iS THE Big OnE—41 PAgES Of

EvERy PROdUCT WE RECOMMEnd AT

iTAS

EQUIPMENT RACKS

ACCESSORIES

BOOKS

24 Absolute Analog

118 Pass Labs XA100.5 Power Ampliier

Is Class A output power worth the size, cost, and heat?

Robert Harley listens to 200 watts of pure Class A power.

Neil Gader auditions the Clearaudio Maestro moving-

magnet cartridge, Jonathan Valin goes back to the future

with the Koetsu Onyx Platinum moving coil, and Robert

Harley evaluates Analogue Productions’ new Ultimate

Analogue Test LP.

126 Cutting Edge

114 Equipment Reports

114 Simaudio Moon i-1 Integrated Ampliier and

Moon CD-1 CD Player

Although scaled down in size and price, Simaudio’s new “1-

series” isn’t scaled down in sound quality. Wayne Garcia has

the details.

Hansen Audio “The Prince” V Loudspeaker

Anthony H. Cordesman discovers much to like in this

unusual Canadian three-way loudspeaker.

138 HP’s Workshop

HP bestows his 2008 Editors’ Choice Awards.

October 2008 The Absolute Sound

Contents

Letters

www.theabsolutesound.com

literature that’s as addictive as the

records it celebrates. We also review

new music from Giant Sand, Calexico,

Tindersticks, Randy Newman, Rodney

Crowell, Michael Franti & Spearhead,

and Sigur Ros. Plus, audiophile vinyl

from Metallica and Marc Cohn.

founder; chairman,

editorial advisory board

editor-in-chief

executive editor

acquisitions manager

and associate editor

music editor

proofreader

art director

Harry Pearson

Robert Harley

Jonathan Valin

Neil Gader

Bob Gendron

Mark Lehman

Torquil Dewar

from the Editor

future TAS

New products on the horizon.

senior writers

Anthony H. Cordesman, Wayne Garcia,

Robert E. Greene, Chris Martens, Tom Martin,

Dick Olsher, Andrew Quint,

Paul Seydor, Alan Taffel

166

Classical

We evaluate a Blu-ray disc and SACD

of Divertimenti , Andreas Scholl’s Crystal

Tears, Gloria Cheng’s Piano Music of

Salonen, Stucky, and Lutoslawski, and

a Stravinsky LP box set from Speakers

Corner. And add another installment of

Multichannel Marvels.

industry news

Loudspeaker-maker Bowers & Wilkins

(B&W) launches an on-line music

subscription service; Chesky Records

makes available high-resolution down-

loads; a Ferarri-branded single-speaker

stereo system.

reviewers and

contributing writers

Soren Baker, Greg Cahill, Guido Corona,

Dan Davis, Andy Downing, Jim Hannon,

Jacob Heilbrunn, Sue Kraft, Mark Lehman,

Ted Libbey, David McGee, Bill Milkowski,

Derk Richardson, Don Saltzman,

Steven Stone

174

Jazz

The lowdown on new discs from

Patricia Barber, David Murray and Max

Waldron, Roy Hargrove Quartet, and

Kenny Wheeler. And another Music

Matters audiophile LP—this time, from

Jackie McLean.

147

Manufacturer Comments

Avguide.com

Managing Editor

web producer

Jim Hannon

Suzanne Mahadeo

MUSIC

174 RECORding Of THE

iSSUE

Paul Bley: About Time .

nextScreen, LLC, inc.

chairman and ceo

vice president/publisher

advertising reps

Thomas B. Martin, Jr.

Mark Fisher

Cheryl Smith

(51) 891-7775

Marvin Lewis

MTM Sales

(718) 5-880

150

Rock

A blowout piece on Continuum’s 33

1/3 book series—insightful music

176

TAS Back Page

Singer/songwriter Shelby Lynne.

Jennifer Martin, Wrights Reprints

(877) 65-595, : (81) 419-575, jmartin@wrightsreprints.com

subscriptions, renewals, changes of address:

(888) 7-165 (U.S.) or (815) 74-58

(outside U.S.), or write The Absolute Sound ,

Subscription Services, PO Box 69, Mt. Morris,

IL 61054. Ten issues: in the U.S., $6; Canada $5

(GST included); outside North America, $71 (includes air mail).

Payments must be by credit card (VISA, MasterCard,

American Express) or U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank,

with checks payable to NextScreen, LLC.

address letters to the editor,

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or e-mail rharley@nextscreen.com

classiied advertising: please use form in back of issue.

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Contact IPD, 7500 Riverview Center Blvd., Suite 400,

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(51) 89-868 fax: (51) 891-075

tas@nextscreen.com

Continuum’s 1/ books

(ISSN#0097-118) is published ten times per year, $4 per year for U.S. residents.

NextScreen, LLC, 4544 S. Lamar, Bldg G00, Austin, Texas 78745. Periodical Postage

paid at Austin, Texas and additional mailing ofices. Canadian publication mail account

#1551566. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Absolute Sound , Subscription

Services, PO Box 69, Mt Morris, IL 61054. Printed in the USA.

4 October 2008 The Absolute Sound

Letters

e-mail us: rharley@nextscreen.com

or write us a letter: The Absolute Sound , PO Box 1768, Tijeras, New Mexico 87059

Thank you!

I recently bought a pair of Magnepan

MMGs on the basis of Jonathan Valin’s

review [Issue 177], and want to tell Mr.

Valin, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank

you!” My music has never sounded so

good, and the MMGs are not yet fully

broken in.

Equipment like the Esoteric P-03/D-

03/G-ORb has made this life passage

considerably easier than I expected.

Now along comes Steven Stone’s

“Music Servers for Audiophiles—The

Time Has Finally Come” in the August

Digital Issue. Until his review of the

Logitech Squeezebox Duet, I had always

considered such products as strictly low-

i accessories for background listening

while working on one’s computer. After

reading this thoughtful review and duly

noting that Steven linked his Squeezebox

to a superior DAC, I took the plunge

and bought it. Following the hook-up

diagram from WiFi to Duet to DAC, I

dutifully opened all of the free accounts

that I could (already having Sirius and

Rhapsody subscription services).

For potential listeners (and possible

buyers), all I can say is: “ Wow !” Listening

to on-line services with at least 128kbps

through an audiophile system, you’ll ind

the sound is good enough to hold your

attention without apologies or fatigue.

I would add that I upsample the 44.1k

stream to 176k via the Esoteric D-03. The

price of admission, compared to some of

the other music-server alternatives, is silly

cheap. Readers who are Sirius, Rhapsody,

or other music-service subscribers will

enter a whole new sphere of existence

when they play these music sources

through good equipment. As Mr. Stone

points out, the added ability to surf

some of the best radio in the world is an

amazing bonus that would alone justify

such a system.

I am truly in The Absolute Sound ’s debt.

Having added the Squeezebox Duet to

my system, a new and exciting listening

experience is now mine forever.

Lawrence Devoe, M.D.

Just Say no to

the PC

I enjoyed your Digital Issue, especially Rob-

ert Greene’s magniicent article about the

Benchmark DAC1 Pre. Robert is seldom

thought of along with the big stars of au-

dio journalism, but his work really shines. I

ind him consistently outstanding.

I wasn’t quite as happy with Robert

Harley’s article about MusicGiants. It was

almost quaint to hear him making a big

deal out of what is, to the rest of us, the

standard iTunes experience—of which

he says, “In my view, any on-line music

store that doesn’t offer a lossless format

is a non-starter.” Well, any on-line music

store that is PC-only and requires me to

use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is a non-

starter for me. What, I’m supposed to use

Firefox for all of my on-line activity (and I

make my living on-line), but keep Internet

Explorer updated and run some ratty PC-

emulation program on my Mac (I’d sooner

jump off a sea cliff) just to use MusicGiants?

Unless I just missed it, he doesn’t mention

either of these major limitations in the

article. Besides, it’s only a matter of time

before Apple begins offering HD (real

HD) downloads at iTunes, at which point

it’s sayonara MusicGiants. He might have

mentioned that, too.

Nice issue, though, despite my gripes!

If you just had a Sam Tellig, I could let

those other guys go. Please keep giving

Robert Greene lots to do.

Michael C. Johnston

Ed Magner

Jv replies: You’re welcome! You’re welcome!

You’re welcome!

Listening to

downloaded

Heavy Metal

Through

Affordable Two-

Channel gear

Holy cow! Heavy metal. Affordable

integrated amps and CD players. A focus

on the future of music delivery (instead

of over-analyzing the technology of

the past). An interview with an Audio

Personality. Hardly any mention of

surround-sound BS (honestly, who

cares?). Great stuff.

Can TAS could do this for 10 issues a

year?

Mark Lundgren

Steven Stone

Changed My Life

As an inveterate analogophile, I have

entered the digital age, kicking and

screaming but inevitably dragged along

by the appearance of digital playback

equipment that approached the best

that analog (vinyl) has always offered.

The attitude of many Macintosh users reminds

me of the joke among motorcyclists—that we

all know fellow riders who think there are three

kinds of motorcycles: BMWs they’ve owned in

the past, BMWs they own now, and BMWs

they’ll own in the future.

As for iTunes, I refuse to listen to (much less

pay for) music with any form of lossy coding.

—RH

ERRATUM : Steven Stone’s music-server

article misstated the number of CDs

stored on a 160GB drive using lossless

coding. The correct igure is about 50.

8 October 2008 The Absolute Sound

Just Say no to

iTunes

Regarding Steven Stone’s article on music

servers in Issue 183: For the most part

I thought the article was well researched

and informative. But I would like to clear

up one thing. I understand that Mr. Stone

is a Mac aicionado, and that’s ine . . . for

him. I hope he isn’t too offended to learn

that he is in a small minority of computer

users. I sympathize with him—as a Linux

user I’m in an even smaller minority.

And that is why I believe it’s important

to point out that Logitech’s music servers

do not rely on iTunes. The server software

will interface with iTunes if that’s what

you want (I guess there’s no accounting

for taste, eh?), but there is no need to

have iTunes installed on the computer

on which the server software is running.

Logitech’s Squeezenter server software

will run just ine in Windows, Mac OS,

or Linux.

Thanks for a great magazine.

Nathaniel Elam

alternatives: all-computer solution vs. a

dedicated music server. Both have their

merits and which one to pick will depend

on how much dealing with computers we

want.

There is a third alternative that may

appeal to some users. I recently purchased

an HP Media Vault (under $300 with

500GB drive) and am using it with

Logitech Squeezebox (under $400) and

my standard laptop. The Media Vault is in

essence a network storage device, meaning

that for a total of $650, not counting the

laptop already used for other purposes,

I have not just a music server but also

a video server, a photo server with Web

access, and an automatic backup server

for all computers on our home network.

Media Vault comes with an expansion

bay—for under $100, another 500GB

drive can be added and conigured as a

“mirror” for professional data security.

Alternatively, the second drive can be

conigured as additional storage, in which

case USB ports can be used for backup.

Media Vault is connected to my existing

router and it’s hidden in a closet to avoid

adding to the usual audiophile clutter. It’s

certainly not as easy to use as dedicated

music servers and may require calling the

HP support line, but depending on how

much other functions are worth to you

music serving may come as a bonus.

Mike Zivkovic

make his Ford perform equally as well as

a Ferrari with modiications by a qualiied

technician, but it’s still just a Ford.

I have a dedicated listening room with

impressive enough gear to demonstrate

to my guests the joy listening to good

gear can bring. This is audio-heyday

equipment, but I never saw a need to

upgrade because I simply couldn’t hear

any improvements by listening to newer

or more expensive gear.

That’s what weaned me away from high-

end audio. As soon as Dolby ProLogic

hit the street, “hearing the difference”

was no longer relegated to “golden ear”

reviewers. Improvements in the audio/

video arena that are audible to everyone

continue to show up—frequently for

the same price as previous gear and

sometimes even for less money.

Meanwhile the cost of audio-only

equipment, which already exceeds reason,

continues to rise in spite of inaudible

“improvements.”

There’s a point where enthusiasm for

the gear clouds good judgment. For the

money it takes to sit at home listening to

outrageously priced gear, I would rather

take my signiicant other to Carnegie Hall

in New York, or a venue in London or

Paris to enjoy a live performance.

Larry Lapins

Another

Approach to

Music Servers

The “Music Servers for Audiophiles”

article by Steven Stone in the August issue

was very informative and timely. Although

analog sound is going to stay with us for

quite some time, the convenience of digital

music can’t be ignored. Many audiophiles

are considering “music serving” of some

sort and the article outlines two clear

I agree that money spent on live music is

worthwhile; I disagree that the introduction of

Dolby ProLogic represented a turning point in

sound quality, as well as the idea that high-end

audio has not advanced in the past decade.

—RH

double-Blind

Testing and High-

End Audio

I have been away from high-end audio for

more than a decade, so I picked up the

latest issue of The Absolute Sound to see

what’s new. I was amazed to see that after

all these years you are still promoting

the superiority of critical listening over

double-blind testing. Your logic for that

conclusion is as lawed as your continued

ight over a moot point.

You should have closed the subject

after making your analogy about the

Ferrari, because high-end gear is about

the whole listening experience which

involves the gear as much as the sound.

To take your analogy further, one may

Measurements

Über Alles

After reading the editorial on blind

testing I concluded that it did not

address the main issue at hand in any way

whatsoever, and merely underlined that

any conclusions, based on listening alone,

are suspect.

If I have correctly interpreted the

source of the basic question, the reason

this issue comes up so often is the concern

that if a reviewer knows the manufacturer

and cost of a piece of equipment under

evaluation, it can impact (perhaps only

NOW ON

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• Read “Jazz: The

deining Moments,”

by Jonathan Horwich

10 October 2008 The Absolute Sound

Letters

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