AUDIO NOTE
Audio Note systems pursue intimate clarity, the kind of clarity we crave but none
of the analytic quality we fear. It is the unmistakably pure sound of systems built
around single ended triode electronics.
Peter Qvortrup believes that most technological ‘advances’ in audio
for the past couple of decades have served to put more between us and music. By
working with established designs significantly predating current high end equipment,
his company has designed single-ended tube electronics; filterless and non-oversampling
dacs; turntables with several motors and lightweight platters; and broad-fronted,
two-way speakers designed to sit in corners, all of which together take us closer
to the whole sound of music than many of us ever thought was possible.
Qvortrup's eloquent and complete line of audio equipment often makes many of us
feel that his competition is getting just the shell of the music. Though they tend
to sound best in all-Audio Note systems, some equipment travels very well. The CD
players, digital transports, and dacs match up extremely well with all other lines
of equipment I have heard. AN cable is also very versatile, providing an engaging
roundness and refined beauty. AN electronics and speakers have all of the eloquence
of their tubed dacs but generally prefer to work with each other, or at least with
other tubed gear. Audio Note single-ended triode amplifiers are especially remarkable
for the solidity and wholeness of their presentation. Most of them are, predictably,
low powered and are usually paired with efficient speakers like Audio Note’s
own. Together they can do extremely musical things.
Audio Note electronics give the sense of coming at music more from the
inside, resulting in a less robust, but subtler, more refined presentation than
Blue Circle electronics, for example. With an SET based, no feedback system, we
hear the slightest flutter of low level sound, especially on Audio Note's new HE
speakers with hemp woofers. Both Audio Note and Blue Circle approaches are extremely
effective, and with most listeners the choice comes down to differences in priorities
and taste. Audio Note fans find Blue Circle electronics insufficiently subtle or
refined; Blue Circle fans find Audio Note electronics too precious, too beautiful.
So it goes.
Audio Note speakers provide an interesting alternative to Reynauds. Considered
by many to be the perfection of the British sound – as appealing as Spendors
but more authoritative from top to bottom, as ‘accurate’ as Harbeths
but less staid and diplomatic, and as assured in their sense of touch as Quads but
both more ‘rounded’ and more liquid in their presentation, AN speakers
make friends easily and tend to keep them. Their sound is more refined and less
bold and physical than that of Reynauds. With Audio Note speakers we hear everything
but are often aware of how clear and beautiful the music sounds. With Reynauds,
the instruments are closer and more robust sounding, though interestingly, not at
all bright. We are especially aware of their physical presence. I like both speaker
lines enormously and enjoy seeing what sorts of listeners are drawn to each.
My journey to Audio Note's digital products, which is how I met the company,
began, in its serious stage with a Krell MDT2 & SBP64X, zigged wildly to a Sonic
Frontier SFT1 & SFT2-II, zagged partway back to a Naim CDX/XPS and then on to
a CDS2, sampling a Meridian, a better Krell, a BAT, an Audio Aero, a Wadia, and
an Accuphase along the way! The arrival at Audio Note was a delightful surprise
that dramatically altered my expectations and increased my happiness. It is the
first digital front end I have heard that does full justice to both new state of
the art recordings and early 60's jazz. And perhaps more important, every AN digital
front end I've heard so far outperforms comparable SACD players, comparing separate
CD and SACD recordings. Yes, CD's on the AN rigs beat SACD's on the SACD players.
Audio Note Analogue. In the spring of 2004, I was a guest of Peter Qvortrup
in England and got to hear a premier Audio Note analogue rig, the first time I had
heard LP’s in over ten years. As a result, I installed an old Voyd Reference
turntable with an AN arm and Io1 moving coil cartridge and AN-S4 step up transformer
in my reference system; and for a long while I also had an AN Turntable Two, Arm
Three/AN-Vx, and IQ3 moving magnet cartridge in my "small room" system. Both in
an effort to reacquaint myself with the unassuming but utterly convincing power
of analogue. My aural memory is not a great one, but based on what I’ve heard
so far, I would not have abandoned analogue in 1990, as I did, if I had owned these
rigs, which are far from the top of the line.
Audio Note interconnects and speaker cable – AN-Vx or the far more
costly Sogon - used either as digital or regular interconnect, are superb. Lexus
speaker cable is so good I used it with AN-E/SPe speakers while I waited for my
AN-SPx to arrive and was startled at how good it sounded. It is an all-copper cable
with the same structure as the many, many times more expensive Sogon – and
possibly the best sound-per-dollar available anywhere. Lexus is naturally full,
SPe and SPx speaker cable are more open sounding and articulate from top to bottom.
AUDIO NOTE COMPONENTS
What follows is a selected survey of Audio Note products I have heard and come to
admire. This will list will doubtless grow as my experience of the line increases.
The complete line of Audio Note products is available through Amherst Audio, including
analogue equipment and speakers. Check the manufacturer's web site (http://www.audionote.co.uk)
for more details.
Audio Note returned to the digital transport field in spring, 2005, with an upgraded
version of the reference quality CDT-2 called the CDT 2 II and in spring 2006 with
the CDT 3. We now have a CDT 4, which, like the M3 series of preamps, will make
use of the Galahead Power Supply; and a CDT 5 (with tube rectifier!) The CDT 2 II,
CDT 3, CDT 4, and CDT 5 will continue to make use of the top-loading Philips CD
12 Pro drive, have a sliding top cover, and manual controls on the faceplate in
addition to control by remote. Prices: CDT 2 II: $6250. CDT 3: $9550. CDT 4: $14,500.
A Level Five CDT 5 $40,000. I hope to have a 5 here some time later this year so
I can see whether it amounts to a supreme indulgence or a significant giant step
farther towards analogue. At that price, I promise to tell the truth.
There are now four one-box (integrated) CD players: a CD1.1x, $2750; a CD2.1x II,
$3850; a CD3.1x II, $5500; and a CDT 4.1, $9500. See my listening notes on the CD2.1x
II below.
Audio Note analogue is the owner’s pride and joy and he is in the process
of upgrading his entire turntable line. At the moment there is a TT1 and a TT2,
both to have optional external power supplies available soon; at least one more
TT3 table over the next year or two, priced above the TT2 but comfortably below
the TT3 Reference and Half Reference.
TT2, with Arm 3/AN-Vx and IQ3 moving
magnet cartridge. This became my first AN analogue rig when I returned
to analogue in late 2004. It dramatically outperforms my long lost Linn LP12/Itok/Kharma
outfit, mainly by being airier and more transparent, with no sacrifice in bass authority.
It makes my LP12 sound plumy in contrast. This is presumably because of its light-weight
platter and dual motors, but I can’t do the audio-physics on this, so I’ll
leave it to others. This combination will take you back to analogue in a hurry if
you let it.
TT2,with Arm 3/AN-Vx, IO1
moving coil cartridge, AN-SL4 step-up transformer. If you’re feeling
both flush and ambitious, put an I0l moving coil cartridge into the Arm 3, add an
Audio Note step-up transformer, and listen to the whole experience go up at least
a level – two levels if you go with the SL4. Among the step-ups, the AN-SL3
is excellent, the AN-SL4 a knockout. As always with Audio Note,
you don’t notice anything missing until you move up and it arrives!
CD 1.1x . A one-box player, using a Philips front-loading transport
mechanism and DAC with a 6111WA tube and tin foil output capacitors. Non-oversampling
and filter-free, of course. Both front controls and remote. Housed in a new full-width
chassis, which is not as high or deep as the standard DAC chassis.
CD2.1x II. Like the CD1.1x but with Audio Note tantalum resistors,
some Black Gates, and copper foil output capacitors.
Some Listening Notes on the CD2.1x II
I have had my eyes on this unit since I first saw the brief description above. I
know what adding Tantalum resisters, Black Gates, and copper foil output capacitors
can do to a basically sound design. I saw this player as the likely entry point
for serious audiophiles on a budget.
I had it right. If the design benchmarks were the earlier CD2.1x and CD3.1x, I would
say they have been surpassed. What I’d hoped for was a Honda Civic that was
recognizably a little cousin of an Acura TL. It’s better than that. It will
serve well in ‘smaller’ systems and is easy to recommend to those of
you with more taste than money. I would say it would take more than twice its cost
to better it – and in a small room, perhaps not. With an Audio Note OTO and
K/SPe’s, using AN-Vx interconnects and either Lexus or SPe speaker cable in
my 10’ x 10’ study, the combination was excellent. Of all the combinations
I tried, though all were very good, this one is the one that stood out.
In all of the systems I tried the player in, what I heard primarily is the always
satisfying AN midrange clarity: not at all analytical or clinical, just naturally
there – almost tactile - and highly transparent. It gets instrumental timbres
extremely well. All of the combinations had more than respectable bass, which is
clear rather than window rattling. (None of the speakers I used have deep bass response.)
With the OTO and K’s, there was natural warmth and great immediacy –
the latter being a specialty of K’s; highs were both crisp and sweet (!).
With a Manley Stingray and pair of JMR Twin Signatures (same cable), midrange was
fuller, breathier, and slightly less clear. Highs were fine, neither noticeably
rolled off nor noticeably sweet. There is also the expected extra degree of warmth
from the Reynauds that the Stingray plays effectively to, which is not present with
the Audio Notes, and which I wouldn’t expect to hear from Harbeths or most
Spendors. With my Blue Circle NSCS and Twins, the midrange was clearer than with
the Stingray, less tactile and refined than with the OTO and K’s. The bass
had a bit more authority and the overall presentation was weightier. Again, what
was most noticeable in all of these combinations was an appealing and naturally
clear midrange.
For fun, I subbed the player into my reference system (Audio Note M6, Neiros, E/SPx
SE’s) in place of a CDT3 and Dac 4.1 Balanced Signature – and held my
breath. Huh. Same virtues the reference front end has, which was a nice surprise.
Emphasis on surprise. A bit less of everything but a lot more than I expected. And,
of course, the Magic is dialed back a bit. Magic is expensive and hard to quantify.
That is what we pay for when we spend more on Audio Note front ends. But again,
as a whole, an extremely good imitation of my reference source. And this is a tougher
test than it will ever have to pass in real life. So I’m impressed.
CD3.1x. An upgraded version of the 2.1 by virtue of its Dac
1.1x Signature II. More soon.
CD4.1x. Audio Note’s best one-box player, using the Philips CD
Pro top-loading transport mechanism of the CDT 2 II and an improved version of the
Dac 2.1.
New Audio Note CDT 2 II and Dac 1.1x Signature II
CDT TWO-II transport . The MK II version of the highly regarded CDT 2 is
an even more startling upgrade than the new Dac 1.1x Signature II. It is so good
I urge you to consider the seemingly radical idea of putting it at the head of even
fairly modest systems, from which its price would seem to exclude it. For example,
pairing it with the Dac 1: you won’t know how good the new Dac 1 truly is
until you hear it with a CDT 2 II. The new CDT 2 is significantly more dynamic and
open sounding than its predecessor. It unleashes remarkable quantities of clean,
authoritative bass, and its treble region has less grain. Like all of the best Audio
Note products, this new transport solves audio problems we were not aware we had.
A breakthrough product that challenges the notion that the dac is more important
than the transport. $6250
CDT 3. I expected the 3 to be a bit better than the 2, but with
a bit over 200 hours on my new one, frankly I was knocked out. I would say the biggest
difference is verisimilitude: everything sounds more real and more present. The
whole presentation has more authority. All of my CD’s sound appreciably better,
which I have to take into account now when I do CD reviews! The CDT3 demonstrates
as well as anything in the Audio Note line what upgrading in a predictable way –
better parts mainly but also intelligent implementation – really means. The
basic products are so thoughtfully designed that upgrading parts dramatically upgrades
performance. The CDT 3 is better at everything the excellent CDT 2 II is good at,
just as my Dac 4.1 Balanced Signature is better at everything my Dac 4.1 Balanced
was good at. The improvements at that level are not at all subtle. If you can only
afford a CDT 2 II, relax, you are in good hands. But if you can stretch to the 3,
you will hear its benefits throughout your system. I would even consider putting
it on an AN dac below its presumed level of performance, just to see if the old
saw about source is still true. $9550
CDT 4. I am told it should be production soon and Tadas, its designer
and builder, tells me it is “notably better” than the 3. That is a frightening
thought, but then so was the 3 when it was first announced. Fare forward! $14,500
CDT 5. Stay tuned.
The Audio Note Dacs are the key to the natural magic of Audio Note digital.
I have yet to hear them all but as soon as I have I will augment the notes below.
DAC 1.1x Signature II . The Signature II’s predecessor, the DAC One.1x
Signature, was a fine sounding dac, especially given its extremely reasonable price.
It captured the middle of notes better than the competition. Paired with a CDT TWO
it could sing, boogie, and roar - easily outperforming two $5000 CD/SACD players
in my house, making the whole "hi-res" phenomenon a non-issue. The new Signature
II is astoundingly better in audible ways. I have used it in my reference system
without fear that anything essential would be lost and have not been disappointed.
Moving up the Audio Note dac line always brings revelations that justify the added
investment. But I expect more and more audiophiles to find the new Dac 1 Sig II
good enough. $2600
DAC 2.1 Signature, and DAC 2.1 Balanced. The 2.1 Signature, with
its tube rectifier, is a nice step up in refinement over the 1.1x Signature II.
In its new Mk II configuration I’m told the Dac 2.1 Balance II is mightily
improved, forcing an upgrade to the 3.1! More soon. $4350 and $6275
DAC 3.1 Balanced. Coming to the 3.1 from anything other than a
more expensive Audio Note dac will put an enormous smile on your face. Up until
a year or so ago, with its analogue filters still in place, it was a very decent
sounding dac but not significantly better than the 2.1 balanced. When they were
removed, it pulled well ahead of the 2.1 in all respects. Naturally rich, smooth,
refined, and clear. Just out, is a new iteration of the 3.1 Balanced that should
be a corker. While it gets better as you move up the line, this is where a goodly
number of ambitious audiophiles will be happy to settle. $8575
DAC 4.1 Balanced. The 4.1 is the Audio Note product that introduced
me to whole the Audio Note line and until I heard the Signature version, it was
the best single component I'd ever heard of any kind. It still sounds extraordinary
to me, even when I come to it from the Signature. My review on Positive-Feedback.com
says all I can say. (See Reviews section below.) Compared with the 3.1, it is more
open through the middle and on top, firmer and clearer on the bottom, and more refined
overall. Where funds allow, it should sit at the head of any ambitious music
system. $15,500
4.1 Balanced Signature. The Dac 4.1 Balanced Signature is in another
game. To be honest, as much as I love the 4.1 Balanced and could be happy with it
forever, the 4.1 Sig is the first DAC I’ve heard that truly does enable digital
to compete on an even playing field with very good if not state of the art analogue.
While the 4.1 Balanced is great digital and an appropriate goal for all but the
most self-indulgent audiophile, the Signature version does seem to cross some sort
of invisible (and expensive) threshold and take us to a place where the choice of
what to play, CD or LP, can be based, as we once hoped it would be, on the music
rather than the medium. It does not emulate analogue’s beguiling softness
but offers comparable smoothness in the treble and stunning overall clarity and
transparency. It can turn a good system into an extraordinary one all by itself.
That it takes this level of investment to get to this point with digital tells us
all we need to know about the medium’s difficulties in musical communication
relative to analogue, doesn’t it! $28,000
DAC 5 Special and Signature . More information and commentary coming
someday! $40,425 and $76,500
OTO SE . Single-ended, EL 84 based, 10 watt integrated amp. Available
with or without phono stage. The best amplifier value in the Audio Note line for
efficient speakers. Likely designed with the Audio Note K’s in mind, it makes
a wonderful match with the 93dB J’s. I have used it with it with both the
JMR Twins and Arpeggiones, getting from them a more refined presentation than most
of us are accustomed to hearing from JMR speakers. The OTO is satisfyingly full,
dynamic, and clear, sounding and wonderfully informative through the midrange.
An excellent choice for a $10,000-15,000 system with efficient speakers, it is a
fine competitor for the Manley Stingray and the Audiomat Arpege, among others. I
am sure I have yet to hear all that it can do. I have not found that after-market
cords improve the OTO. OTO SE Line, $3275. OTO SE Phono, $3850.
Soro SE. 18 watt, 6L6G tube based single-ended integrated amplifer
with a more robust and fuller presentation than the OTO. Available with or without
a phono stage. An ideal mate for Reynaud speakers in particular and a fine contrast
to the Blue Circle integrateds for those who prefer the flavor of tubes. I run it
with great success on Twins, Cantabiles, and Offrandes, and expect it will also
be a fine match for the forthcoming Emeraude, successors to the Evolution 3. Soro
Line SE, $5100. Soro Phono SE, $5675.
Meishu, Meishu Silver, Meishu Silver Signature . 9 watt SET, 300B
based integrated amplifier. Available with or without phono stage. This is the best
way to bring 300B tubes into your system if you’re a prudent rather than self-indulgent
audiophile. Naturally, warm, and full sounding, it can be upgraded with NOS tubes
to take it pretty much any direction you like. Its natural mates are Audio Note
AN-J’s or AN-E’s. Its three different models parallel the Quest monoblocks
amplifiers below in its internal components. The Meishu Silver is a great upgrade.
Meishu Line, $6850. Meishu Silver Line,$9350. Meishu Line Silver Signature, $14,950.
M3 single-ended, tubed preamplifier. Available with or without
phono stage. With its new improved power supplies, whose technology has trickled
down from the M10, the new iteration of the M3 has made it the great preamplifier
value in the line. Dave Cope and I agree it sounds miles ahead of its predecessor.
A natural match with a P3, P4, Quests, or Conquests. M3 Line, $7250. M3 Phono, $9350.
M6 single-ended, tubed preamplifier. Available with or without phono stage.
The M6, which has also acquired new power supplies derived from those in the M10,
is the finest preamplifier I have heard at what it does. I consider it a reference
component. It is the perfection of the M3 school of preamps. M6 Line, $15,500. M6
Phono, $19, 250.
Quest . The Quest amplifier is a 9 watt SET monoblock amplifier, which gives
us the rich glory of the 300B tube. It comes in standard, Silver, and Silver Signature
models. As the Conquest, it offers us 18 watts with paralleled 300B's. Quest, $7050.
Quest Silver, $9625. Quest Silver Signature, $17,250.
Conquest Silver Signatures
Conquest . 18 watt SET monoblocks amplifier. More information and commentary
coming. Conquest, $11,500. Conquest Silver, $14,500. Conquest Silver Signature,
$21,250.
Neiro. 8 watt SET monoblock amplifier. A pair of Neiros offers
the passion, penetration, and deeply saturated colors of parallel 2A3's coupled
with a C-core transformer with copper primary and silver secondary windings. More
elegant, informative, and possessed of firmer and clearer bass than the 300B based
Quests and Meishus in the line, the 2A3 Neiros are also a bit less meaty and sensuous.
They sound startlingly more powerful than their meager eight watt rating suggests.
In conjunction with the M6 preamplifier and a DAC 4.1 Balanced, they soundstage
wonderfully with depth and air, putting a natural finish on notes that is strikingly
real. $25,025
Shinri. 10 watt monoblock amplifier, identical to the Neiros, but
with a single 300B output tube in place of parallel 2A3’s to provide a more
nuanced, disciplined, and refined perspective than their 2A3 brothers. They are
Mozart to the Neiro’s Beethoven. Great sense of control on harpsichords and
pianos. Remarkable delicacy and suavity overall. Where the Neiros are notable for
drama and contrast, the Shinris lead with poise and control. $28,875
P4 Balanced. My new P4’s have arrived
and taken over the house. While clearly related to the Quest/Conquest line of 300B
amps, the P4B’s with their interstage transformers take us into another sound
and musical world. Far better bass, a huge soundscape, increased spatial presence,
with a degree of clarity that leaves its less ambitious siblings in the dust. I
feared their copper wound transformers might mean too much warmth but after just
one day of play, that demon retreated. Warmer than Neiros but far more transparent
than the Quests and Conquests. I drive mine with an M6 but Audio Note says they’ll
respond well to an M3 as well. If the price tag is beyond your means, at least try
to hear a pair of these at the next RMAF to see where Audio Note is going. $28,500.
Jinro. 20 watt SET integrated amplifier with Chinese 211 tubes. Debuted at
CES in 2010. More information and commentary coming soon. $21,175.
Tomei. 25 watt SET integrated amplifier with 211 tubes. More information
and commentary coming.
Ongaku. 25 watt single-ended integrated amplier with VT4-C tubes.
Information and commentary forthcoming. $95,000
SPEAKERS
Audio Note’s are the only speakers I have yet to hear that present a truly
viable different perspective than Reynaud’s. Peter Qvortrup says they are
"correct and accurate to the recording," an argument I have heard in favor of a
great many speakers I admire but am not (any longer) drawn to. Harbeths, most recently.
But Audio Note speakers are extremely persuasive, whatever the philosophy behind
them. Perhaps Peter has sprinkled some fairy dust on them and not told us.
They did not take me by storm. I expect this is mainly because they don’t
sound at all like Reynauds, which is the speaker voice that had occupied my head
for the last couple of years. Reynauds generate a sense of almost palpable emotional
atmosphere about them: they are wonderfully breathy, naturally warm, and full of
musical presence. They are so effective at this that they can make other, quite
excellent, speakers sound lean in direct contrast. Which is exactly what they did
to a pair of AN E/SPe’s the first few weeks I had them here.
Audio Note speakers are not at all lean, they are as clear as a New England fall
day and, once the transition from JMR speakers is made, exhilaratingly open and
gloriously transparent. Violins in particular are transcendent. Human voices are
strikingly clear, instrumental voices remarkably lifelike. Unlike Reynauds, they
are not especially indulgent of bad digital transfers. But to most of mine, and
I have a great many, they sound fine and are full of nice surprises. I have never
much enjoyed the sound of Chandos CD’s for example, and they sound very good
on AN speakers. They seem to give all decent recordings more than a fair chance
to show what they’ve got. The best recordings sound extraordinary. Every recording
sounds distinct from every other recording, which is their designer’s criterion
for excellence and has become mine.
Like Audio Note electronics, they are eloquent rather than ingratiating. This seems
to have a great deal to do with their speed, their responsiveness to an audio signal.
I have never quite understood the importance of this attribute until now, and I
expect it has a great deal to do with the simplicity of the signal path. It seems
to be what gives AN speakers their extraordinary verisimilitude. Music coming through
them sounds a great deal like what I heard in the spring of 2004 at the Aldeburgh
Festival in Norfolk, England. (http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue14/festival.htm)
Notes break the air with great speed and little effort, giving them great immediacy.
All Audio Note speakers are designed to be in the corners of the room, toed in such
that their ‘lines’ cross about a meter in front of the listening position.
This said, I have found that most AN speakers work fine out in the room, especially
the K’s; so the fact that your room has no useable corners does not rule them
out at all. My main listening room’s corners are eighteen feet (!) apart,
so the toe-in here is absolutely essential. Set up properly, Audio Note speakers
create a very broad sweet spot. Peter Qvortrup likes to demonstrate this attribute
of his speakers by pointing out to visitors that his accustomed listening position
is to the far right! They love low-powered SET’s. Once I got my demo E’s
(and J’s) snugged back into the corners, the full length drapes (behind them
and in front of my floor to ceiling glass wall) drawn a couple of feet past them
(to take the glass out of the equation) and pulled away from their rear-firing ports,
they began to have their way with me. I drive mine with parallel 2A3 Audio Note
Neiros, while many AN speaker owners prefer 300B based amps, of which Audio Note
makes a great many.
The sonic universe that Audio Note speakers propose can take me over. Their openness
and clarity throughout their surprising range can be magic, and you don't need to
go 'up range' in the product line to hear it. As with the OTO integrated
amplifier and Dac 1.1x Signature II, the magic is there from the beginning. One
of my favorites is the modest K/SPe, though I'll confess I have daydreamed of indulging
in legendary K/SPx SE's to give myself a present!
All of the Audio Note speakers are based on classic Snell designs, improved upon
by Audio Note designers. They are available in an extraordinary variety of finishes
and degrees of technical refinement. The notes below refer to the SPe models which
strike many of us as the best AN speaker values.
AN-K/SPe
While there are speakers, (notably Audio Note J’s and E’s) that go lower
and higher with more ease, and make a bigger and arguably more accurate impression,
the 90 dB K’s have a special quality that larger, more effortlessly full-range
speakers generally lack. Those who remember with fondness the KLH Six (compared
with the Five and Twelve), the larger Advent, and the Celestion SL6 will know what
I’m talking about. The K/SPe’s are better speakers than any of those
classics; but they share their appeal, their ability to speak incisively and almost
personally through the essential midrange, which, because of the K’s lighter
low end, is where their balance is centered. They have an immediacy, a presence,
exciting leading edge behavior, and tactile musical excitement, along with a beguiling
hint of opacity (!), just as their predecessors had. The smaller Reynauds have some
of this strange blend of tactile immediacy and opacity. The K’s have sealed
cabinets, which clearly account for some of their sonic quality. The KLH, Advent,
and Celestion were all sealed; the Reynauds (and Audio Note J’s and E’s)
are ported. A substantial benefit of the K’s is that they perform superbly
on the modest OTO integrated amp. Designed with smaller rooms in mind, they also
sound excellent in my 18’ and 28’ living room. $3000
AN-J/SPe
The considerably larger, ported J’s are unquestionably "better" speakers than
their little brothers, in the sense that they go lower with more authority, go higher
with more ease – they are smoother and more open sounding; and they create
a larger image. They have less ‘personality’ than the K’s (as
KLH Fives and Twelves had less than the Sixes) because they make fewer compromises
(cabinet size mainly, which means the smaller speakers have to work harder to cover
the spectrum) – and it is compromises that bring personality to a speaker,
for better and for worse. The J’s bass comes remarkably close to that of their
big brother E’s. In small and large rooms alike, with their 93 dB sensitivity,
they are quite happy on the OTO. Actually, the OTO/J-SPe combination is one of my
most popular. $5000
AN-E/SPe.The E was the first Audio Note speaker I heard and as
much as I like the J and K, if you have the room for it, the E is the speaker to
have. Its additional half-octave on the low end clarifies the low bass fairly dramatically.
It also gives the impression of being more open and easeful from top to bottom,
likely the result also of the clearer low end. The E’s like a bit of space,
but seemed just fine in Peter Qvortrup’s approximately 12’ x 16’
study. Most folks put at least a Meishu or M3/P3 on E’s. They,
see below. $6100
AN-E/SPe HE. An AN-E/SPe with hemp High Efficiency woofers taking them to
98 dB! A great upgrade which makes possible use of ultra low powered 45 or 2A3 based
amps. That said, the speed of the hemp woofers seems to make these E's demonstrably
more exciting on the same amps you'd use with the standard E/SPe's. I have
just gotten a pair in and they have already become my favorite Audio Note speaker.
They strike me now as the sweet spot in the line. Not as absolutely resolving and refined as
the more than two and three times as expensive E/SPe SE's and E/SPx SE's, but a
bit sweeter and absolutely endearing. No wonder Art Dudley fell for them. $7600.
AN-E/LX Signature. A copper wired AN-E with the High Efficiency woofers
and external, separately boxed crossovers using solid copper wired inductors with
Audio Note copper foil capacitors. Wired with Lexus cable. Excellent review of the
E/LX Signatures by Art Dudley in Stereophile...written before he heard
the E/Spe HE's...http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/506an/index1.html
For those who love copper wired speakers or whose overly bright listening rooms
require them, these are jewels. $15,500.
AN-E/SPe SE and AN-E/SPx SE. With silver
wired inductors in the external crossovers, these two beauties are the first of
the upscale silver wired E models. More resolving and thus more articulate
across their entire range, they can be stunning with the Level 4 electronics they
invite. Audio Note afficionados will insist on this level of refinement. The rest
of us will find great satisfaction with E/SPe HE's. ] $17,500 and $24,250
INTERCONNECTS
Audio Note cabling is the best I know of. It can compound the virtues of both AN
and non-AN systems. Modestly priced copper Lexus is terrific in a modest system,
offering a naturally warm, detailed, and full presenation. I prefer it
to the less weighty sounding, silver-based AN-v, which costs more. But
when you get to AN-Vx the game begins to change. Everything
begins to open up without any loss of the Lexus solidity or smoothness. SOGON
with twice as many strands of silver is simply astonishing in its clarity and sweetness. And
the new Sootto, with twice as many strands as Sogon (!) can take your breath away. Big,
hugely present, and still beautiful. It clearly crosses an invisible line into
territory where adjectives flail and reality seems to begin. The strategy,
unless you're rich, is to put the best cable you can afford at the head of the system
chain, say between a digital transport and dac or between a CDP and amp: that way
its advantages get passed along. Even putting a single run of Sogon, or better yet,
the new Pallas, between the transport and dac in a system with all Lexus delivers
a dramatic improvement.
Upgrading from Vx to Sogon to Sootto interconnects is like opening sonic doors.
At each step we feel we are hearing it all and then suddenly, in each case, there
is more. More instrumental and spatial detail, more pure physicality and presence,
more beauty, and more shear excitement. This is directly attributable to the
near doubling of strands of silver, the doubling of channels through which
musical information can travel: it is as if twice as much on a recording
is being unleashed. I can't tell you now exhilerating it is to hear more
of a cello than you've been accustomed to thinking there is: the prodigious sound
of its physicality accompanied by the stunning beauty of true timbre. This
is what this whole enterprise we are involved in truly is.
With Audio Note cable, every step of the progression is a revelation, so there is
no need to complete the journey through the last door. But I promise you
there is no other way to get it all. If all of the musical information can't get
into your system, it ain't going to come out!
LEXUSAll all-copper 50 strand interconnect with the same architecture
as Sogon. Probably the best buy in IC’s around. Full and smooth sounding,
it has more clarity than we usually find in copper cable. One meter pair, RCA's,
$235.
AN-V 99.99% pure silver, 15 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect,
copper screen. A respectable interconnect for modest high end systems for those
who have to have silver but can't afford AN-Vx. I have used it between a CDT1 transport
and Dac 1.1x Signature II dac and sometimes between the dac and an OTO integrated.
Less full sounding than copper Lexus but just enough silver to throw a bit of natural
light over everything. One meter pair, RCA's, $525.
AN-Vx 99.99% pure silver, 27 strand litz wire symmetrical interconnect,
copper screen. A significant jump in openness and refinement from AN-V, this is
the interconnect of choice in most reasonably priced systems. No need to go beyond
AN-Vx unless you’re a truly ambitious but definitely worth stretching to from
AN-v and from Lexus if you can. A good choice in even a perfectionist’s system
that requires a long run, say to monoblocks. One meter pair, RCA's, $1250.
SOGON 99.99% pure silver, now 50 strands, up from 42 strand litz
wire symmetrical interconnect, copper screen. Wide open and as refined as I have
ever heard. A great cable to run from a transport to a dac to give a VX based system
a great start. More and more listeners are considering this option even in
modest systems because of the startling degree of improvement it provides. One meter
pair, RCA's, $3175. Single run as digital interconnect, $1587.50.
PALLAS A new cable introduced in 2008 for even more dramatic improvement
in the run from the digital transport to the dac. Better than Sogon in this role,
if those of you who have heard Sogon can believe it. One meter, single run for digital
IC, RCA's, $2137.50.
SOOTTO 99.99% pure silver in 110 strands. Big, bold, clear, and
still beautiful. Arguably the most 'real' sounding AN cable. Head to head with Sogon,
it sounds less refined and less sweet because it is holding absolutely nothing back.
Not at all clinical, just stunningly present. Scarey good stuff. Even a one-meter
pair near the head end of a system can be an existential joy. In my current
reference system, I run from Pallas to Sootto to Sogon. One meter pair, RCA's, $7050.
SPEAKER CABLE
Lexus XL Pure copper 50 strand Lexus cable is all a modest system
will ever need and also my choice for Reynaud Duets, Cantabiles, Emeraudes, and
Offrande Supremes. Way better sounding than it has any right to be. A great cable
value. An all-copper wire but built with the same architecture as Sogon, so it offers
the classic warmth with detail. $280 per meter single wired plus $135 for termination.
Biwired, $560 plus $270.
AN-SPe 99.99% pure silver litz conductor, 17 strands. AN-SPe is
comparable to an interconnect halfway between AN-V and AN-Vx: a great sounding cable
that will satisfy most audiophiles. Ideal for K/SPe's, J/SPe's, and E/SPe's. $780
per meter single wired plus $80 for termination. Biwired, $1560 plus $160.
AN-SPx 99.99% pure silver litz conductor, 27 strands. Weightier
sounding overall and more brilliant in the upper midrange. Great match for JMR Orfeos
and Concordes. $1940 per single meter single wired plus $80 for termination; $3880
plus $160 biwired.
SOGON LX 96 99.99 pure silver conductor, now 96 strands. Probably
the best there is but prohibitively expensive for most. I live happily with some
older 80 strand Sogon, split for 'value' biwiring down to 40 strands. Even that
is gorgeous. Sogon 96 is $9500 per single meter single wired plus $135 for termination.
$19,000 Plus $270 biwired.
|
JM REYNAUD
JM Reynaud speakers pursue the natural warmth, body, and immediacy that give some
listeners their chief emotional charge from music. They are warm and robust but
there is also, especially with current Reynauds, a crisp quality to the leading
edges of instruments and voices that gives them more clarity than most other warm
speakers can provide.
Reynaud, who spends most of his "spare" time in the concert halls of Europe, has
successfully pioneered an approach to loudspeaker design demonstrating that monitor-like
'accuracy to source' resolution is not necessarily the way to the truth of what
live music really sounds like. His least expensive speakers often embarrass the
competition's best.
Reynaud speakers have a way of providing the perfect marriage of sonic information
and musical expressiveness that seems to elude so many other designs. The zig-zag
to Reynaud began with Kefs, proceeded to Meridian M-2 actives, Linn Saras and DMS
Isobariks, B&W Matrix speakers, Spendors (BC1's and 1/2's), and on to Harbeths.
The arrival at Reynaud was both satisfying and definitive. No speaker I have heard
does as well at getting the elemental emotional feel of a live musical performance
into our living room, which is their designer's express goal. In contrast to the
vivid kind of clarity that distinguishes some of the most popular contemporary ‘for
a clear day you can hear forever' speakers, Reynauds offer a naturally warm but
also spirited and energetic version of transparency, resulting in a physical immediacy
that can take your breath away. To my ears, had the Spendor BC-1 evolved in a straight
line rather than thinning out its heritage into the current Classic line, it would
have turned into a Reynaud.
Compared with Audio Note speakers, Reynauds seem considerably more physical
in their presentation, putting the primary focus on the body of instruments. Where
Audio Note speakers have favor a complex, and inflected presentation, Reynauds sound
weightier and a bit simpler and more straightforward.
JEAN MARIE REYNAUD LOUDSPEAKERS
Again, for more detail and a look at the full JMR line, go to the manufacturer's
website, http://www.jm-reynaud.com. All
JMR equipment is available through Amherst Audio. Note: North American distribution
of JMR speakers is once again being handled by Amherst Audio. A current list of
dealers appears at the end of the JM Reynaud section. Amherst Audio remains a retail
dealer as well as the importer.
Below are subjective descriptions of my favorite Reynauds. Amherst Audio offers
the full line of Reynaud speakers.
The Bliss (formerly called the Duet).
After thirteen years and four different versions, JMR decided it was time for the
famous romantic Twin to retire to make room for something altogether new. Well,
not absolutely altogether. The drivers are the same and the enclosure is almost
the same --slightly smaller in volume (2 inches shallower, 1 inch wider). But the
interior of the enclosure has been completely re-engineered to take advantage of
what was learned from creating the Offrande Signature. There is a new crossover.
And the sound! Still naturally JMR warm and expressive but much
more immediate and clear. The ideal for JMR has always been that elusive marriage
of warmth and clarity we hear in the concert hall and jazz venue and that has eluded
speaker designers for years. Over the half-dozen or so years that I have been listening
to Reynauds JMR has steadily and conspicuously moved closer to this goal. But in
his latest speaker iterations he has taken a giant step - and with the new Bliss
he has brought this level of improvement to his entry-level speaker. I loved the
MK III Twins, I loved and admired the Twin Signatures. But I am floored by the Blisses
- and mine are not even half broken in yet. The most dramatic improvements are in
the immediacy of the midrange and the clarity and authority of the bass. Where the
Twins used to seduce with a degree of beguiling opacity, the Bliss amazes with
the warmth, speed, and immediacy of a 'live' performance. And where the Twins sometimes
wanted a subwoofer to fill them out, the Blisses often sound as if they are already
subs somewhere in the room. Still no hint of the brightness or over-asertiveness
that often accompany great presence. Just there-ness. The Blisses
are warm, immediate, smooth, passionate, and fast.
They strike me as more versatile than the Twins. Within reason, you can get almost
any sound out of them you like. So far my favorite combination has them with the
Blue Circle 6922 based FtTH hybrid integrated, which brought the house down at the
recent audio show in Montreal; and the SBT preamp (also with 6922's) and SBM solid
state monoblocks. The FtTH brings out their dynamic capacity and phenomenal low
end; music has great weight and body through this amp. The SBT/SBM combination seems
to maximize the Blissess' potential for clarity, speed, and brilliance with no loss
of smoothness. The 6SN7 based Blue Circle DAR integrated, brings out their romanticism:
a fuller and more blended sound, a more fluid midrange, increased holography &
deep sound stage, and lots of energy, all at the cost of some tightness in the low
end and some overall definition. The SBT/SBM and Blisses sound truthful and exciting;
the FtTH add to this truthfulness increased dynamics and authority; the DAR and
Blisses are more enveloping than either but lack some of their command.
I am getting the sense it will take me quite a while to discover all that these
little miracles can perform, especially on the JMR Magic Stands. More than even
their predecessors, the Blissess are the kings of the under $2000 speaker market.
Merci, Jean Marie. Merci, Jean Claude. $1895.
New review of Duets on
Positive-Feedback
Bliss Silver.
A new Bliss Silver has been added to the line. Not a replacement for Bliss, which
remains happily in the line, it is in essence a refined and upgraded Bliss, with
silver internal wiring and an innovative interior structure that has a dramatic
effect on clarity.
Here are my initial impressions, literally right out of the box.
On my Blue Circle BC3000II tubed preamp and BC 204 hybrid power amps (FtTH out for
review), with Audio Note front end, with Audio Note Lexus cable (single-wired),
and sitting on sand and lead shot filled Audio Note K steel stands with Blue Tak
(Magic Stands also out for review). AN stands are 24 inches high compared with the
Magic Stands' 28 inches.
One of the clearest sounding speakers I’ve ever heard. Overall definition is outstanding.
The midrange is among the very best I’ve heard: as clear as the Harbeth Radial but
sweeter. Suggestive of a Spendor midrange with all of its appeal but more definition.
An overall natural warmth with a surprising sense of ease for a stand mounted speaker.
Not a hint of brightness or assertiveness. Listening to a cello and piano duo: the
two instruments are each perfectly and separately realized. Treble range is clear
and smooth, midrange present, savory, and clear. Bass is solid with good body, tight,
and extremely well defined. Clearly it’s stand-mount bass, but the absence of low
end authority is not conspicuous because what is there is so well defined.
Do they sound like Offrandes? Not really, probably because of their soft silk dome
tweeters compared with the Offies’ ribbon. They are a bit softer, sweeter, and less
brilliant. And their bass is not as deep as the Offies.’ Comparison with Orfeos?
Not as full sounding with less authoritative and deep bass. Compared with Emeraudes?
Better definition in the Bliss Silvers. Compared with Standard Bliss? Twice as good?
My initial judgment -- and most speakers in my experience tell you about 80% of
who they are almost immediately -- is that they are the most musically accurate
speakers under $5000 I’ve heard.
I will update this as soon as I hear them on my FtTH and Magic Stands and when they’ve
had a few weeks to settle in.
The US price is slightly less than the Euterpe, floor-standing version of the Bliss,
at $2695.
Euterpe. Floor-standing version of the Duet, replacing the Arpeggione
Signatures. They use the same drivers as as their little siblings, but with more
space for the woofers to work with, they provide an additional 5 Hertz on the low
end. And no need for stands! $2895
Cantabile Supremes: The new Cantabile Supremes, using the same
technology that have made the Bliss Silvers excitingly better than the standard
Bliss, are a huge upgrade over their predecessor Cantabile Signatures. They have
the smoothest midrange I’ve heard in years. They are smooth, clear, airy extraordinarily
‘musical.’ Refined in the way of Spendor SP 1/2’s but clearer and with stunningly
better imaging. Smooth like the Spendors but not so reticent. Tonal and timbrel
reproduction are exquisite. These speakers are balanced toward the midrange, such
that low level detail and sense of touch are very fine. They are naturally but not
conspicuously warm because they are so clear and liquid and because, especially
in my 18’ x 30’ x 10’, 5000 cubic foot room, they lack the fuller sound of my considerably
larger (both enclosure and drivers) Orfeo II’s. Bass is clear and tight in my room
rather than weighty, which should make them ideal for small to moderate sized rooms
(12’ x 14' x 16’ say), where more substantial bass would tend to induce booming.
Nearby walls and ceiling in smaller rooms will tend to reinforce and augment the
new Cantabiles’ bass naturally.
Some could find these speakers a tad light weight in a very large room, where the
larger Emeraudes or even Orfeos would be more suitable. The Cantabiles are smallish
floor-standers, just 40 inches high compared with their big brother Emeraudes’ 45
inches. And while they have dual midrange/woofers, the drivers are 4.75 inches in
diameter compared with the Bliss Silver’s single 6 inch and Emeraude’s 6.5 drivers.
That said, even in my very large room, these new Cantabiles are dynamic and fast
on rock and jazz; and while symphonic music doesn’t make my chest contract, the
clarity and especially the spaciousness of the imaging spreads an orchestra out
convincingly in front of me. I can hear both individual instruments and groups.
And they do go to 35 Hertz!
I consider the Cantabile Supremes a highly rewarding first step up from any standmounts
I’ve heard at anywhere near their price. Easy to drive at 91 dB. The perfect speaker
for small rooms. And still $3995.
 Emeraude. These replacements
for the extremely popular Evolution 3’s may be the most overtly appealing
speakers in the Reynaud line by virtue of their Spendor-like midrange. And unlike
those lovable British Classics, the Emeraudes have commanding bass. So if this sounds
like your game, this may be your ideal speakers. Reynaud is using
a new fabric tweeter (still top-mounted) for this model which has a neodymium magnet
with a "w" shaped suspension: it is likely responsible for the wonderfully clear
and smooth quality of the Emeraude's treble range.
Jean Claude Reynaud considers Emeraudes smaller Orfeos – and while they are
certainly closer in personality to their big brothers than to the more immediate
and direct sounding Offrande Supremes, these speakers have a distinct identity that
doesn’t remind us of Orfeos at all. Like all Reynauds, they are naturally
warm and clear; but their smaller scale results in a more lithe, more intimate,
and less grand, presentation especially well suited to moderate sized rooms, say
12’-14’ x 16-18’ or so. Remember, their predecessors were the
floor-standing version of the everybody’s mother loves them Trentes. Emeraudes
sound like floor-standing versions of significantly more informative Trentes. "Imaging
is very wide open and deep. It has a sound that is both fast and warm, as we like." JCR. They
are wonderfully easy to drive - 8 ohms compared with the EV 3's 4 ohms and
sensibility is now up to 91 dB. They sound extremely happy on my 95 watt
Blue Circle FtTH hybrid integrated. A great match. $5495.
Offrande Supremes replace the Offrande Signatures. Still 8 ohms,
still with the ribbon tweeter. Price $6995 (still).
Offrande Supreme: Phoenix Rising
Just two years after the introduction of the stunning
new Offrande Signature comes another new Offrande, the sixth version of this famous,
much loved stand-mount that has always been so much more than a stand-mount. Why
so soon?
According to the Reynauds, while a goodly number
of music lovers (and recording engineers), found the Signatures to have an ideal
balance of increased resolution and traditional JMR warmth, the world of Reynaud
lovers at large missed something in the new Offrandes that had drawn them to succeeding
iterations of this definitive Reynaud for going on thirteen years. They heard, correctly,
that unlike previous Offrandes that had been the essence of the entire JMR line,
the Signatures stood somewhat apart from their siblings. Not so much as to be different
in kind but clearly different in degree: they were more objective sounding through
the upper midrange, making them superb recording monitors, but a tad less friendly
in small domestic situations with side walls close by to reflect (and boost) the
first wave of treble sound. In my large listening room in Massachusetts, with walls
some six feet away (and a ceiling ten), they were excellent. In our room at the
Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2006, when people stood along the walls they were equally
impressive. But when the crowd thinned, exposing the flat, hard walls, they became
a bit overwhelming. As presumably they also did in small rooms in Paris and Lyon
as well. Clear and accurate but less "Reynaud-like," as Jean Claude concedes.
And so, Jean Marie returned to the drawing board
(and listening lab) and has emerged with a reinvented Offrande that retains the
widely acknowledged advances of the Signature – more authoritative bass response
and a miraculously clear, wide dispersion treble thanks to a ribbon tweeter it shares
with the Orféo II and Concordes – but with a voice and overall balance
closer to what has characterized Offrandes since their arrival into the audio world.
On first hearing, I would say the Supreme is a significantly improved version of
the last model before the Signature, maintaining its much-loved natural warmth but
adding an even more dramatic sense of presence and immediacy and the best imaging
of any Reynaud ever: its ability to represent space is uncanny.
I came to like the Offrande Signatures a great
deal, as my report on them here made clear; but I understand their departure. They
could only achieve their musical goals in spaces most of us do not inhabit. So when
I got the news of their departure, rather than feel regret, I just held my breath
and waited.
A Perfectionist’s Bliss?
Offrandes have always moved us in closer to the
musicians than the JMR floorstanders, like the Orféos and Concordes. That
is what Offrandes do. They move us up so we can hear everything each instrument
is saying before it blends with the others, in exchange for a bit less of the hall:
less fullness, less reverb. The Orféos and Concordes are speakers that capture
the sound we hear just after instruments begin to blend, where the treble just begins
to taper off and where the overall sound is fuller, richer, and more reverberant.
Not quite "mid-hall" – fresher sounding than that – but getting there.
Jean Marie’s favorite perspective has always
been closer in, which is where his favorite speakers take us. The Offrande Signatures,
to some ears, took us all the way in, closer than most were ready to go. You could
say that in that sense, for many listeners, they overshot the mark, as many recording
engineers do these days! The new Bliss, his other favorite, takes us in but not
quite so close. Those with foresight might have seen in the Bliss where new Offrandes
would eventually go.
Some will doubtless characterize the new Offrande
Supreme as a perfectionist’s Bliss, which is actually a way of reminding us
how good the Bliss is. The new Offrandes provide a dramatically enhanced version
of the Bliss’s clear, naturally warm and immediate presentation. With the
Offrandes we get scads more timbral detail, a still clearer and more liquid presentation,
and immediacy to die for: they are full of the presence of musicians making music.
We get more of everything the Blisses have. The Supremes are less absolutely
transparent than the Signatures were, less absolutely objective sounding monitors
of recordings; but they are more transparent than the pre-Sig Offrandes. To my ears,
they are closer to what a ‘live’ musical performance actually sounds
like, thanks, I’m sure, in significant part to the ribbon tweeter. Where the
new Offrandes are conspicuously better than previous Offrandes is in their imaging
and in their stunningly engaging and descriptive midrange. What they can so with
solo violins, cellos, and woodwinds – not to mention human voices –
is quite literally enchanting.
Having lived with these speakers for quite a while
now, it is clear to me that the Offrande Signatures were a departure from the direct
development of the Offrande tradition and that we are now back on the main track.
If I were a recording engineer, I might mourn the passing of the Offrande
Signature. As a music lover who must persuade other music lovers with living rooms
rather than studios, I welcome the Supremes.
Looks: As you can see from the image, we have returned to the traditional Offrande
shape, perhaps to signal the return to a more traditional sounding JMR speaker.
I recommend them in the new light cherry stain. Lovely creatures.
Amplifiers: The new Offies are 91 dB, a dB more sensitive than the Sigs. You
can get all of their glory with a good hybrid integrated like the 95-watt Blue Circle
FtTH, which is a nice surprise.
Room size: Offrandes have always been designed for moderate (not very small)
sized rooms – 12’-14' to 18’-24’ maybe. In this
size space their overall balance should be perfect. In large rooms –
18’ x 36’ and larger – they can lean out a little, depending on
ceiling height, furnishings, and the like. That is Orféo and Concorde territory. Even
the best stand-mount speakers in the world with 7.5 inch woofers can have trouble
loading a very large space, though all of my comments above are based on listening
in my fairly large living room (18' x 28' x 10'), so who knows?
The Offrande Supremes are as good as the Orféos,
they simply offer a different perspective. All you have to decide is where you want
to sit.
Orféo. The Orfeo has gotten a new crossover and become the Orféo II. Sonically and musically,
it is a new speaker, an Orféo with the midrange of a Spendor that grew up.
All of the fullness and low end authority we expect from an Orféo but a new
sense of immediacy, presence, clarity, and beauty in the range where instruments
and the human voice speak to us most identifiably. It would be tempting to call
it an an Offrande Supreme with better bass, which is what I would have reported
before my pair broken in. But 75 or so hours in, the Orféo II is now closer
to the Concorde Signature: a bit faster and not so deep, but with its big brother’s
overall command. All this from a new crossover? Yup. No price increase.
 The Orféos are a perfect
complement to the Offrande Supremes and will choose their fans accordingly. Where
the Offrandes provide more immediacy and the intense excitement of an intimate perspective,
the Orféos give you a grander, fuller, and more beautiful picture. Both are
great speakers. The Orféos have a warmer overall balance and fuller, more
authoritative presentation than Emeraudes, by virtue of their considerably deeper
bass. Their scale is orchestral, perfect for rooms too large their little brothers,
and, fed with something comparable to my 150 watt Blue Circle hybrid stereo power
amp, they achieve it with great ease. What they do for the left hand of a piano
is a mighty thing to behold.
While you can run Orféos are an amp as modest and versatile as the Blue Circle
FtTH, it gives you much more on higher powered separates. I am currently running
mine on a BC3000 II GZpz and a 150 watt BC204 hybrid stereo amp, and they are incredibly
satisfying in all respects. $7995.
Great new review
on Positive Feedback.
Concorde Signature. When JMR's top of the
line Concorde was given the Signature treatment - principally a redesigned interior
and the same ribbon tweeters that make the Offrande Supreme and Orféo so
open and spacious - it took several steps up. Its predecessor has been described
by some as a supreme EV3 and by others as an Offrande with more extended bass and
the ease and authority that comes with a true three-way speaker. The Signature has
an improved high end, more presence, and a tighter low end. Improvements in the
design of their enclosures makes them more suitable for normal sized listening rooms
than their predecessors. In a system that is up to them, they are at least as authoritative,
smooth, musical as the earlier Concordes, but add the presence of their smaller
siblings. They are comparatively easy to drive but will reward an amplifier that
can feed their woofers well, like a Blue Circle BC206 or pair of BC208‘s.
Price: $12,000.
MAGIC STANDS. JM Reynaud has granted Amherst Audio the rights to
build and sell in the US his patented Magic Stands, designed specifically to improve
the performance of Twins and Trentes and now the new Duets. Making use of the principle
of the Helmholtz Resonator, Magic Stands not only improve low end performance of
these JMR speakers dramatically, they also have the effect of evening up response
in the midrange. Magic Stands are hand-crafted by Amherst, Massachusetts cabinet-maker
E.S.Fair. They are identical to the originals, though I find these a bit sturdier.
Price, $425
For a definitive presentation of the theory behind the Magic Stands, go to:
http://www.jm-reynaud.com/jmr_us/archives/magic.html
JM Reynaud Dealers
Craig Jensen
Great Plains Audio
7535 Hwy 212 Chaska, MN 55318
(612) 590 - 2248
cmjncf@copper.net
Louis Hernandez
Stereo Shop
4319 Columbia Rd
Augusta, GA 30907-1469
(706) 863-9143
Louis@thestereoshop.org
John Guidi
Evolution Audio
5341 Derry Avenue Suite S
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
818-879-1312 or
800-836-8577
John@eavht.com
Bob Neill
Amherst Audio
164 Red Gate Lane
Amherst, MA 01002
(413) 549-6171
www.amherstaudio.com
|
BLUE CIRCLE
Gilbert Yeung's quest to reproduce the essence of 'live' music has led him to design
electronics with a combination of authority, dynamic energy, natural warmth, and
clarity. His career has yielded some of the most satisfying (often hybrid tube/solid
state) preamplifiers and amplifiers in the world.
Amherst Audio began with Blue Circle. The zig-zag that got me to this musical line
of preamps and amps followed one of the predictable routes: zig from Krell to Conrad
Johnson, zag halfway back to Plinius. It could just as well have zigged from Bryston
to Cary and zagged halfback to Plinius. To my ears, Blue Circle, especially in its
current designs, comes remarkably close to achieving the mean between an accurate
version of what's on recordings and a presentation of what ‘live’ music
really sounds like. Avoiding both the clinical and the cloyingly colored, Blue Circle
preamps and amps, in both single-ended and balanced, in both solid state and tubed
topologies, have pleased me for many years. There are stars in the line –
the new mini SB series, the FtTH hybrid integrated amplifer, the MKII versions of
the classic BC3 series tubed preamps, the new 200 series hybrid power amps, and
especially the reference quality dacs and a new BC6000 line conditioner. But I have
yet to hear any Blue Circle component that does not have a musical point to make.
With Blue Circle, the preamp is the key: this is where designer Gilbert Yeung speaks
most meaningfully. To compare any digital front end direct to amp system with one
that has a Blue Circle preamp in it will tell you a lot of what you need to know
about Blue Circle. Blue Circle used to sound warmer and softer than most of its
components do today. Lately, the designer has moved to a more realistic balance
of warmth and transparency, which his widespread use of balanced topology has helped
to mature. Especially when paired with JM Reynaud speakers, they are dynamic, weighty,
and present. Yang to Audio Note’s Yin?
In the last year or so, in an effort to broaden the Blue Circle palette, two new
series of electronics have been introduced, both of which impress me very much.
The SB series of compact preamplifiers and amplifiers, while clear cousins of the
FtTH and 200 series amplifiers, have an SET like clarity and sense of touch that
has turned many heads. The DAR and 400 series amps, making use of the much-loved
6SN7 tube, bring back some of holographic qualities of the classic BC 2 and BC6
amps of yore. Stay tuned.
BLUE CIRCLE ELECTRONICS
For full and more objective descriptions of Gilbert Yeung's line of electronics,
see the company's web site:
http://www.bluecircle.com . What follows is my subjective opinions of a
selection. All Blue Circle products are available through Amherst Audio.
Preamplifiers
BC3PLS. New preamp for those can’t quite stretch to a BC
3 Despina II. Not a replacement for the no longer available BC 2l.1 but a whole
new design. Price: $3295. For more information go to:
http://www.bluecircle.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=69&Itemid=67
BC 3 Despina II. Tubed, single-ended. The "original" Blue Circle
preamp, now upgraded to MK II status, which tightens its low end and adds dynamics,
reflecting its designer's move toward more incisive, bolder, and somewhat faster
reproduction. Retains enough of the classic Despina sensuousness and remarkable
midrange clarity to keep the BC3 faithful in the fold. Mates especially well with
the BC 26 II solid state amp, as well as with the BC28 hybrid. The BC Despina II,
Galatea II, and BC3000 II also make excellent mates for cooler solid state amps.
The Despina II is available in balanced topology for an additional $750. The BC
3 Despina is at the heart of many fine music systems. Price: $4495.
Note: The original BC3 Despina, Galatea, and BC3000 are once more available as an
option – at the following prices. Prices: BC3 Despina: $4495. BC3 Galatea:
$6295. BC3000: $7995.
BC3 Galatea II
BC 3 Galatea II. Tubed, single-ended. The upgrade from Despina
II to the Galatea II, which amounts to the substitution of the 3.1 II for the 3.0
II external power supply, takes this extremely popular preamp a significant step
forward. Bigger power supply means better bass and a bit more refinement through
the midrange. The Galatea II is available in balanced topology for an additional
$750. List price: $6295.
BC 3000 II. Tubed, single-ended. The 3000 II represents a huge
sonic upgrade from the Galatea II and is probably the most sound per dollar
in the preamp line. When it is coupled with the optional GZpz power supply,
it gets more refined and picks up an astonishing sense of ease on large orchestral
and big band music. The BC 3000 GZpz is currently the top of the BC preamp
line. List price for stock 3000 II: $7995. With GzPZ power supply: $9995. The BC3000
II is also available in balanced topology for an additional $750. Pair this reference
preamp with one of the new BC200 series hybrid amps.
Amplifiers
GDC. Brand new entry-level integrated solid state amp. 95 watts.
Considerably clearer from top to bottom than the former CS, it changes JMR Duets
into more penetrating and faster sounding speakers, at a bargin price. $1795.
DAR. A new 100 watt integrated hybrid using the 6SN7 tube to achieve
a warm, appealing but still delightfully clear sound reminiscent of the vintage
BC2 and BC6. It made its debut at the 2007 Rocky Mountain Audio Festival and was
extremely well received playing with Reynaud Cantabiles.
The DAR midrange is open and full of musical timbre. There is a slightly warm, airy
and breathy immediacy and clarity in the mids and upper mids that mates predictably
well with JMR speakers. So far I’ve heard it on the Cantabile Sigs and the
Offrande Sigs and while it sounds very good on both, I prefer it slightly on the
Cantabiles which seems the more appropriate and natural match.
The DAR is a bit richer sounding and more solicitous than the SBT/SBM combination.
They in turn are firmer sounding and a bit more penetrating. But they are recognizable
cousins. Both have an emotional directness that sets them apart from most other
electronics I know. Both of these Blue Circle amps have a way of making many other
amps sound evasive. $2995.
BmPH. A powerful (160 watts into 8 ohms, 260 into 4 ohms) all
solid state integrated designed for those who need more power in a one-box
amp. Warmer, fuller, and punchier than the FtTH. Informative review on SixMoons:
http://www.sixmoons.com/audioreviews/bluecircle2/bluecircle.html. $5395
with single Shallco volume control.
FtTH
FtTH. Hybrid integrated using 6992 tubes, one for each channel.
95 watts into 8 ohms, 125 watts into 4 ohms. True-balanced typology. Separate external
power supply. A more open sounding and sophisticated amp than its former stable
mate NSCS, the FtTH has an upper mid and treble range that gives strings and woodwinds
more room to strut their stuff. This is the integrated we music-loving audiophiles
have been waiting for. $5595.
Backbone and Grace: Listening Note on the Blue Circle FtTH Integrated Amplifer
Listening to a Blue Circle FtTH on either my Reynaud Duets or Offrand Supremes,
I do not get the sense that everything is especially beautiful, refined, sexy,
or radiant, but that it is naturally and forcefully present, as it should be. The
music falls simply falls into the room with grace and authority. When
I listen to live music, I’m not smitten with beauty or radiance, I’m
smitten, when I am, by the firm, clear presence of real instruments. I
am not taken, at least consciously, by aspects of sound but by music. There is nothing
diverting me, positively or negatively, from the music. The instruments have
their full character, nothing more. And most especially, nothing less.
It is a very reassuring experience. I invariably find myself saying, "oh, of course."
That is why I will always have Blue Circle electronics in my house. This is the
way they present music. They remind me what instruments sound like. I admire this
amplifier enormously. It is my Reality Check amp. That does not mean it is
Plain Jane, clinical, dry, solid-state-like, or dull. It is real. And reality can
be a wonderfully uplifting thing. In audio, it may ultimately be the most uplifting
thing, which lasts. I am amazed that it serves both the modest Duets and demanding
Offrande equally well.
Very few other audio designers can live with this approach. They fear, with good
reason, that it won’t grab potential buyers, who want to Hear Their Gear.
Want to be seduced or bowled over (or both). They want to hear and be able to characterize
the voice of their system. While I’m listening to my FtTH on my JMR speakers,
in my mind other systems sound overly refined or harmonically enriched or too
lean 'n' light or too charming or two patrician or too assertive: artificial,
affected. Again, with my FtTH, I feel as if I am getting real thing. The
real musical thing. I realize I have forgotten how good reality sounds! What
a wonderful combination of backbone and grace it has. I want nothing more. Because
the cost of its output devices has risen sharply over the past year or so, it is
very likely the FtTH will leave the Blue Circle line sometime in 2010. It will become
an instant classic when that day comes. Do not wait for it.
 BC 204
BC 200 Series Power Amps. I have now heard the first two of these
new hybrid and balanced stereo amps, which are rapidly becoming the
stars of the line. Once we move beyond the practicality of integrateds, these are
the amps we aspire to. But the separates which are the FtTH of Blue Circle high
end power amps are the 200 series.
BC 202. Coupled with the Galatea II, the 202 is a clear step up
from the FtTH, providing noticeably more authority and clarity through the midrange.
But to my ears, as good as it is, it is more a promise of what's to come in the
204 than a logical stopping place. But for $3000 less, it's a great high-end bargain.
125 watts. $7495.
BC 204. The BC 204 is a dream amp, which coupled with a BC
3000II GZpz now occupies the center of my Blue Circle/JM Reynaud reference system.
More authority, more refinement, more everything. It is the FtTH of Blue
Circle stereo amps. I'm sure the BC206 and especially the BC208 are better. There's
always something better! Gilbert is clearly on a roll with the 200 series amps and
I'm eager to hear them all. But I'm here to tell you that once you've heard the
204 surrounded by comparable components, you'll feel little temptation to venture
further. For a while. 150 watts. $10,595.
BC 206. 180 watts, $16,495. Available as monoblocks and called
the 206ob with 160 watts, $20,995. And don't be fooled by the lower power. Gilbert
assures me the 206ob is a better amp than its single chassis brother.
BC 208. 215 watts. Top of the line monoblocks. $28,995. Believe
the reviews.
SBT tubed preamp and SBM solid state monoblock amps
SBT. Tubed preamplifer with 6922’s. $1795.
SBP. Solid state preamplifier. $545.
SBS. 20 watt, class AB solid state stereo power amplifier. $1795.
SBM. 45 watt, Class AB solid state monoblock amplifier. $2995.
Digital to Analogue Converters
BC 501ob with optional purple-heart walnut faceplate.
BC 501, BC501ob. I have finally had an opportunity to hear one
of Gilbert’s dacs and I am mightily impressed. The ob version, with its extermal
power supply, can hold its own with any dac I have heard. Both bold and smooth,
it presents music with remarkable ease and authority. Music has natural weight and
roundedness through this all-solid-state dac. Compared with Audio Note tubed dacs,
the 501ob gives the impression of greater clarity: it is clear from corner
to corner like a Leica lens. Where the Audio Note dacs seem to be pulling everything
together and providing strong emotional focus, the BC dac seems to spread things
out, giving us a more objective presentation. Which you prefer will be entirely
a matter of personal audio preference. Both work extraordinarily well.
Match your Blue Circle dac with an Audio Note CDT 2 II or CDT 3 transport
and you’ve got a great digital front end. I have yet to hear the baby dac.
The BC 501 retails for $4345, the 501ob for $7845.
Blue Circle Line Conditioners
Blue Circle’s Music Ring line conditioners have been around for a while now
and do a very creditable job. I have used an MR800 in the past and was pleased with
it. But I wanted more, so I brought in an Audience AdeptResponse and got a LOT more.
I got more of everything I wanted but also an uninvited boost in testosterone. I
liked that – it improved the performance of both my Blue Circle and Manley
amps, so I didn’t complain. In its new, revised version it is even better
and has less testosterone, good enough to merit an award from me on Positive Feedback
for 2007. But.
BC 6000
But, in late fall of 2007, I heard the BC6000. And the AdeptResponse had to leave.
The BC conditioner made both my Blue Circle and Manley amps sound better still,
but this time in the areas of clarity, refinement, and beauty, which are important
to me. On my Audio Note M6 preamp and Neiro monoblocks, I got more ambient information
and a noticeable increase in musical energy. This is the best piece of line-conditioning
equipment I’ve heard and given the price of the competition, it is a steal.
It is so much better than the Music Rings that I’m not even going to talk
about them any longer. Go directly to the BC6000, in either the six, twelve, or
fourteen outlet versions, and don’t look back. Probably the most bang for
the buck in the Blue Circle line. $1795, $2325, and $2435 respectively.
|
TG AUDIO LAB
TG Audio Lab is back in business, now run by Frank Latimer, still in Houston, Texas.
The full line of products formerly offered by the late Bob Crump is still available.
Frank worked some with Bob before his death and knows the cables well. The stars
in the line-up remain the SLVR power cord ($500 for a five-foot cord), TG speaker
cable ($800 for an eight-foot pair, $990 for a ten-foot pair), and High Purity interconnects
($800 for a one-meter single-ended pair unshielded, $900 for shielded – Add
$500 for balanced). Contact me for other lengths – and other TG products.
The TG product I’ve heard most recently is the latest version the SLVR power
cord. While I’ve seen no benefit from using after-market power cords on Audio
Note electronics, they definitely add something of value to most solid state and
hybrid amps, Blue Circle amps in particular. Quieter background, more sense of ambient
space, which was always a Crump specialty. I have yet to try it on my Manley Stingray
but past experience tells me it will be provide a significant improvement.
|
A Brief Essay on Digital and Analogue Sound
Digital
Digital, since the ballyhoo and bravado of its introduction in the late 1980’s,
has spent most of its nearly twenty year history, at least in the world of high
end audio, fighting (or defending itself from) what many analogue fans characterize
as ‘the problem of digital.’ Most agree that even at its best, which
can be very good indeed, digital CD’s take somewhat of an analytic or clinical
slant on things. If we like it, we hear it as stunning clarity and transparency
and are drawn to the crispness of its leading edges. We admire its speed and transient
response. Its fans call all of this "accuracy to source." Its critics hear instead
a relative starkness, a lack of roundness and fullness; a sense that instruments
have had some of their rich timbre stripped away. At its worst, which is rare these
days, it comes through as edginess and/or glare. Those who speak of digital’s
presentation as having a ‘problem’ attribute to many things –
too low a sampling rate and jitter chief among them. Based on my experience with
some extremely good CDR’s made by recording engineer Da-Hong Seetoo, I have
come to believe that what the critics of digital are talking about can be attributed
at least in part to the manufacturing process, which is why so many tweak treatments
to CD’s are at least to some degree effective. Recording engineers are frequently
dismayed by the degeneration in quality from their masters to the CD’s we
buy. Optrix, Auric Illumiunator, Vivid, Bedini’s Clarifier, even copying commercial
discs onto CDR’s all seem in varying degrees to relieve edginess and glare,
softening things up a bit and rounding them off appealingly. Upsampling, noise-shaping,
and more radical nostrums aimed at CD’s allegedly too modest sampling rate
strike me as less successful. Having heard redbook CD’s sound extremely good
without any of this (and somewhat artificial with it) persuades me they are dead
ends. Filtering, in both the analogue and digital domains on the premise that distortion
is the root of ‘the problem’ have also demonstrated to me, through its
absence in Audio Note dacs, that it too is a false path.
Audio Note’s approach, which to my ears yields the least ‘problematic’
digital available, has mainly to do with treating the 16/44 information stream as
respectfully as possible: no filtering or upsampling, extremely high quality parts,
silver cabling, and the like. At its best, especially with its Philips Pro top-loading
transports, the CDT 2 II, CDT 3, and CDT 4, Audio Note digital is virtually free
of many of the qualities critics object to in the medium. And on truly good CD’s,
treated with one of the elixirs – my latest find is Nanotec Systems’
Intro Project 8500 CD-DVD Coating Liquid - the ‘problem of digital’
can sometimes seem no problem at all.
Analogue
The truth behind the truism ‘if you have to ask yourself whether or not you’re
in love, you’re not,’ is that, like grace to which it often likened,
love comes unbidden. This is the kind of talk we frequently hear in talk about vinyl.
It is true that with CD’s, we sometimes find ourselves reaching out with a
willful effort at belief. The music itself seems to have a forced quality about
it. Less with Audio Note digital but still some. With most vinyl, we more often
find ourselves in a passive mode of acceptance. There is a perceptible ease about
the proceedings and the issue of ‘belief’ seldom comes up. What does
come up is a tendency to talk like this!
This lack in CD’s of ease and solicitousness, what some call appropriately
"liquidity" in contrast to the somewhat dry sound they attribute to digital comes
across to digital fans – to repeat myself – as objectivity or
transparency. It can sometimes sound like that. But extended time spent listening
to live music tends to challenge this belief. CD’s almost deathly silence
and uncanny separation of instruments can sometimes give digital reproduction a
distant, unorganic, unworldly, astral character. Especially on pianos and most especially
on harpsichords. It takes one hell of a good digital front end to handle, let alone
capture the beauty of, a harpsichord. And then there is the difference between hearing
the initial breaking of silence by an instrument – the first vibrations of
the air which precede the impact – and the last vibrations fading away; and
not hearing them. Coming to an analogue LP from a CD, this first arrival and final
departure can sound like touches of softness, for which vinyl is both praised and
criticized. Because CD’s generally don’t capture either of these as
well as vinyl, dithering notwithstanding, they deliver a crispness, for which they
are both praised and criticized. A clarinet’s reed must start out at very
few mill-Bell, even if it only remains there for a millisecond. That is part of
why we find even the most raucous clarinet appealing – it enters on a cloud.
We notice that. We sometimes call it "air." Digital adherents call it euphony or
color. Its adherents tell us it is actually the difference between what a real clarinet
(or violin) sounds like contrasted with a brilliant but incomplete imitation
of one. This aspect of real sound reproduction can be mimicked by playing with output
curves, filtering, up- and over-sampling, richer and softer output devices. But
once you grow accustomed to the real thing or an excellent analogue of it, the vinyl
fans tell us, you will not be fooled.
And then there is the sheer physicality that many of us hear in analogue
sound. Peter Qvortrup calls it "the medium." Music coming from an analogue recording
has avoirdupois, a substance, a body, a roundness that we generally miss
in digital.
Closely related to this physicality and the entry and exit quality I spoke of above
and perhaps drawing on them both, is beauty – not prettiness but the
savor, the quality of the sound of musical instruments that we respond
to immediately at concerts of live music. This is the aspect of sound that makes
even the raucous clarinet appealing in the midst of its rancor. It is what audiophiles
are referring to when they praise an audio system for being ‘engaging’
or ‘involving.’ It is a feeling of satisfaction. Exceptional digital
recordings can get some of this quality. I have heard it in some of the record engineering
of Tony Faulkner and Da-Hong Seetoo. Good analogue recordings do seem to get it
as a matter of course. It is, in the end, what music lovers come to analogue for.
Bad vinyl? Some LP’s can have a peculiar brittleness or dryness and also a
hemmed in quality that reminds me of bad digital actually, though without bad digital’s
excessive assertiveness or brightness. Only the most radically sentimental of audiophiles
will deny that there is such a thing as bad vinyl. Vinyl is not a holy material:
even analogue recording requires good engineering.
Gear? I have heard very few analogue rigs. My own of a generation ago: a Linn LP12
with an Itok arm and Kharma cartridge. I loved it at the time, or rather took it
for granted. It had a seemingly natural warmth we all raved about. And now an Audio
Note TT2 with Arm 3/AN-Vx and Io1 moving coil cartridge and an old Voyd .5 Reference
with a new Audio Note AN-1s/ANSgon arm mounted on it with the same IO1 cartridge.
Both of these Audio Note rigs sound better to me than (my aural memory of) the Linn,
mainly in seeming faster and more resolving. My TT2 outfit, once it settled in (20
hours?), revealed all of the characteristic I’ve described above. Sometime
in 2009, we are hoping for a new TT3 .5 Reference, broadly based on the Voyd layout,
but with better suspension. My ears (listening to the Voyd) and rumors of the projected
price-tag tell me it will be substantially better than the TT2. And I will want
one badly. But it will not be absolutely better than my TT2, especially considering
the likely price difference. With the TT2, we are 2/3 of the way there already.
Where is there? The Audio Note TT3 Reference.
All of this said, I will not be giving up my Audio Note transport and dac in this
lifetime. There is a great deal of music, mainly by contemporary musicians and composers,
which is simply not available on vinyl. Also, unless I am in super critical A/B
mode, Audio Note digital is so good at minimizing the ‘problem of digital,’
I am only occasionally aware of it.
|
SYNERGY and UPGRADING
SYNERGY
Granted all of my talk about individual designers and designs, AMHERST AUDIO is
more and more about system synergy. The search I have carried out over the past
8-10 years has been for the most natural and emotionally convincing sounding components
but, increasingly, also, for the combination of components that expresses
the most natural and whole sound.
Synergy outside of audio means the process whereby two or more substances
work together to achieve an effect of which each is individually incapable.
Its root means literally ‘working together:’ from son or syn
and ergon. In audio, the term has come to mean something like energy or work
moving in the same direction, toward the same ends. And presumably achieving
them more effectively because of this shared effort. Some systems achieve satisfactory
results by having components working against each other, by achieving some sort
of balance of opposing forces, usually with the help of ‘corrective’
cabling. I have owned several and heard many of these systems; and as exciting as
some of them have been, they lack the ease and confidence of systems whose components
are all going in the same direction. Unanimity in preference to debate.
Most of the components I sell will, used wisely, sound quite good in many other
systems. Blue Circle's tubed preamps, for example, are legendary for breathing musical
life into systems with other people's all-solid-state amps. I know for a fact that
Reynauds perform well with Audiomat integrated tube amps, and even with Plinius
and Bryston solid state separates. Audio Note front ends appear to be the sort of
beginning that no system can foul up. And Audio Note cable is legendary for bringing
peace on earth and good will wherever it goes. But. But if you were to assemble
a system from these same components, with an eye to synergy rather than peace-keeping,
I suspect you would emerge much happier.
For example, while one could mate Audio Note electronics with Reynaud speakers satisfactorily,
it soon becomes apparent that whereas the Audio Note gear is working toward grace,
eloquence, and refinement, the Reynaud speakers want to break out, kick up the dust.
They feel unnaturally tamed, held back. You are hearing a workable marriage but
not a particularly happy or peaceful one. Then you hook up a Blue Circle amp and
everything changes: the Reynauds break free, together with the BC amp they commence
to dance, and the whole room rocks joyfully. Even string quartets through a Blue
Circle/Reynaud combination have a more robust quality that feels like a shared point
of view about music rather than a compromise or decision by committee. Jean Marie
Reynaud and Gilbert Yeung clearly understand music reproduction in similar ways.
A comparable ‘situation’ arises when you (as I did) put a splendidly
eloquent Audio Note M6 preamp on powerful, incisive Blue Circle AG8000 hybrid monoblock
amps. Initially everything sounds terrific: we have both grace and power –
all of that iron fist in the velvet glove baloney. And then, gradually, sure enough
you can hear the dissension. The two components are working against each other,
producing a dramatic but not a natural result. We have sonic not musical
drama, an artificial construct. The initial excitement pales before an instinct
to call in a referee. Some may prefer an Audio Note M6 preamp to a Blue Circle AG3000
preamp or vice versa, just as some prefer Apollo, some Dionysus. But making the
god dance with the faun does not enable either to perform to its advantage.
Audio synergy is achieved when a system is made up of components informed by the
same view of what reproduced music ought to sound like, components that are the
result of the same design philosophy, such that neither iron nor velvet is required.
The supreme example of this phenomenon in my experience is Audio Note, primarily
because the same design team controls every link in the audio chain. Every component,
beginning with both analogue and digital front ends, through cabling to electronics,
and on to the speakers flows from a single approach to musical reproduction. The
approach or philosophy if you prefer, is a belief that the simplicity and purity
of the signal path so as to maintain the integrity of the information, is the best
route to whole musical truth. The DAC’s do not alter the signal they receive:
neither do they up-sample nor filter. The turntables use several strong motors driving
light platters because heavy platters store energy thereby restricting dynamic energy
and clarity. The electronics are single-ended, run in Class A, use directly heated
triodes, use tube rectifiers, and use no feedback – in a coordinated effort
to keep the signal whole and unaltered. There is no wave reconstruction involved,
as there is in push-pull designs. The speakers are two-ways with broad front baffles,
which, the designer of the Snell speaker on which they are based discovered, offer
the truest reinforcement of speaker output. Setting a modest-sized Audio Note two-way
speaker in a corner, so that both the walls of the room and the speakers own front
baffle naturally reinforce the bass, results in astonishingly deep and clear
bass.
Improvement (upgrading) very simply involves better parts and more pure materials,
namely silver and better materials used as windings in the transformers, not new
design wrinkles. The most expensive Audio Note E speaker is visually indistinguishable
from the least expensive E. The only differences are inside. From the M3 to the
M6 preamp, the cabinets and controls are identical. Again, as Emily Dickinson tells
us, the inside is where the meaning is. One can put an Audio Note front end into
a non-Audio Note system and also use Audio Note cable judiciously in such systems.
But when you insert Audio Note gear farther down the chain of a system composed
of other gear, something fundamental is lost. The synergistic chain is broken. Unanimity
is gone and debate begins.
Blue Circle’s Gilbert Yeung understands that controlling the entire audio
chain is the only sure route to synergy and so, among other ventures, he has already
designed and marketed three DACs to complement
his electronics and is hard at work dreaming
up an even more ambitious one as I write. It will be interesting to hear what happens
when that young genius perfects this move. There are also Blue Circle speakers emerging
from the Innerkip design room. Jean
Marie Reynaud seems content making speakers. So at the moment achieving synergy
with Blue Circle, and Reynaud, is up to
you all. It is worth the effort, especially if the Audio Note presentation is too
civilized for you!
UPGRADING
The Hyperbola
The key to improving a synergistic audio system that has ‘your sound,’
the presentation of music that seems most real and most satisfying to you, is not
changing it but making it better at what it already does well. This route will not
produce dramatic alteration but incremental improvement. That is because the direction
of improvement in audio is not up so much as over: you are trying to get closer
and closer to the sound of live music, which you are already approximating. You
are, to borrow an apt image from mathematics, moving closer to the y-axis. Your
trajectory is a hyperbola. This truth is disappointing to the kind of audiophile
who is in it for sonic thrills, who wants to hear something startlingly new for
every new dollar spent. But it will ultimately be more satisfying to those of you
in it for the sound of music. Getting ever closer to the real thing can be musically
thrilling. Getting 15% closer to the real sound of a violin – more of the
resonance of the instrument’s wooden body, of the almost physical sensation
of the bow on the strings – gets up into our sinuses with pleasure. Getting
more thwack of the bow on the strings of an acoustic bass rather than a slightly
vague thrum can seem like all the world when the musical passage depends on it for
impact. This is what genuine upgrades give us: more violin, more bass, more sax.
And more Anita O’Day!
System Balance
Another valuable piece of the synergy and upgrading puzzle is that one needs to
maintain balance across a system to make genuine progress. Upgrading electronics
to the extent that they get ahead of your source (turntable, digital transport,
dac) will not improve the system. It will generally not sound better. The new amplifier
will simply give you a clearer view into the relative shortcomings of your source.
It will be doing its proper job. Likewise, improving your speakers beyond the capability
of your amplifier to drive them effectively and without distortion will almost invariably
make your system sound worse. If you can’t upgrade your system as a whole
at one time, it is generally best to begin with the source, so that the improvements
can be passed down the chain. And the same holds for upgrading cable: begin at the
source. You’d be amazed at what a little bit of Sogon silver interconnect
between a transport and dac can do; and appalled at what it will do if introduced
farther down the chain first.
The system balance approach to upgrading is what informs the Audio Note Levels System,
which Amherst Audio has adapted to Blue Circle, Manley, and Reynaud as well. What
this boils down to is that a Level One system will generally sound better than a
Level Two system with a Level One source. A Level Two system with a Level Three
source will generally sound better than a Level Three system with a Level Two source.
This makes perfect sense but it not generally how audiophiles proceed. They tend
to favor speaker upgrades first, which are admittedly sexier, But if the speakers
are truly better rather than just different, starting with them will likely prove
a disappointment. They can, after all, only reproduce what they’re fed.
SYNERGISTIC SYSTEMS
Each Amherst Audio level
represents a significant upgrade from the one below it. Prices approximately double
from level to level until we reach Level 5, which is essentially state of the art,
with performance achieved without serious attention to price.
Level
One Systems
A really good Level One system costs $9,000 – $15,000 without turntable and
phono stage. Level One done right should be good enough for all of us. Its compromises
have very little to do with musical enjoyment. A good Level One system makes
us forget about sound, audiophilia, and high fidelity. I keep a good Level One system
around to remind myself of this.
At Level One, you can go with a mixture of Blue Circle and Reynaud, with an Audio
Note digital source; or with an all Audio Note system. The JM Reynand Bliss standmounts
(formerly called Duets), replacing the famous Twin Signatures, are truly great speakers,
probably better than the much-loved Trentes of yore. Paired with a Blue Circle GDC
or 6SN7 tube based DAR integrated amp, two of the best values in audio, they will
provide plenty of musical satisfaction. The new Blue Circle SBT 6922 tubed preamp
and SBM solid state monoblocks are a revelation with Duets, as well as with their
floorstanding brothers, the Euterpes, providing more in the way of SET-like transparency
and dynamics than the GDC and DAR. To my ears, the FtTH hybrid (6922’s) integrated
gets everything the Blisses (and Euterpes) have to offer. I urge it on all
Level One customers who are willing to stretch their budgets in exchange for a fuller,
more dynamic presentation with knock-out bass. The Bliss or Euterpe don’t
need the FtTH to excel but they can be astonishing when driven by it. With
Lexus interconnects you will get more musicality than many audiophiles are accustomed
to, though SPe offers a rewarding upgrade for more openness and refinement. An upgrade
to AN-Vx interconnect will open up the presentation fairly dramatically. Lexus speaker
cable is recommended for all Reynaud speakers, from the Bliss to the Offrande
Supremes.
With the remarkable single-ended 10 watt, EL84 tubed OTO SE single-ended integrated
amp and Audio Note K/SPe's in place of Blue Circle and Reynaud gear you will get
more refinement and transparency at the cost of some richness. There, while Lexus
or Vx interconnects are again the choices, SPe speaker cable is recommended for
added openness and speed.
I recommend the one-box Audio Note CD2.1x II as a digital source for both Audio
Note and Blue Circle/JMR systems at Level One with the new CD3.1x II as a good upgrade.
I recommend an Audio Note TT1 turntable with Arm 2, and the IQ2 moving magnet cartridge
at this level for analogue. In the BC/JMR rig, I’d recommend the Blue Circle
BC 709 or 707 phono stage. With an Audio Note system, you can go with an OTO that
has a built in phono stage. If there is flexibility in the budget, stretch to at
TT2, Arm 3/Vx, and the IQ3 cartridge, a really fine analogue combination.
Level Two Systems
Level Two is the beginning of the
trip up the ladder of joyful self-indulgence. It is easy to justify this first step.
Everything sounds better! As it should. While the music doesn’t get better,
the instruments certainly do. And we are more aware of them. A Level Two system
runs around $25,000, without turntable and phono stage. Audio Note digital separates
– the CDT 2 II transport and Dac 1.1x Signature II (or 2.1 Signature) –
are considerably more resolving and dynamic than either the CD 2.1x II or CD3.1x
II and belong at the head of either an Audio Note or Blue Circle/JMR system at Level
Two. You can put together an all-Audio Note system sticking with the OTO SE but
bringing in the Audio Note J/SPe speakers. The alternative would be a Blue Circle
FtTH amp and the new Reynaud Emeraudes, successors to the Evolution 3's.
At Level Two, I’d use Vx
interconnects, Lexus speaker cable with the Reynauds, SPe with the Audio Note speakers.
You could also sneak a single run of Sogon from the transport to the dac for an
ear-opening experience.
For analogue, I’d stick with
the TT2 and Arm 3/Vx but introduce the IO1 moving coil cartridge, which will need
a step-up transformer. The AN-S4 is a dream.
Budget stretching upgrades would
be to AN-E/SPe speakers and the Dac 2.1 Signature or 2.1 Balanced.
Audiophilia
Levels 3-5 are for audiophiles.
Verisimilitude increases fairly dramatically; tonality and timbre become more evident.
The illusion of presence increases. Levels 3 and 4 are great fun, just as performance
oriented cars are fun. They are not about transportation, they are about excitement.
Which is very real. The higher Level 4 and Level 5 systems can be extraordinary.
To assemble a Level 4 or 5 system is to make a serious commitment to getting all
that can be gotten from current software in the way of detail, atmosphere, and innuendo.
And there is a great deal more information on both standard redbook CD’s and
vinyl LP’s than many of us ever knew.
Level Three Systems
Level Three systems can run run from $30,000 to 50,000 without turntable and phono
stage, depending on choice of amps and speakers. The CDT 2 II and Dac 3.1 Balanced
comprise a superb front end that would take a considerable investment to better.
The Audio Note 300B based Meishu Silver integrated amp or better, an M3 preamplifier,
with its new power supplies trickled down from the M10, and the Audio Note Quest
Silver monoblock amps are a superb introduction to 300B SET amplification. Or one
could go all out for Quest Silver Signatures, which open up the presentation considerably
while adding still more refinement. The AN-E/SPe’s in the High Efficiency
version provide more authority, clarity, and ease in the bass than the J’s.
Again, a dash of Sogon at the front end brings a shimmer of musical sunlight impossible
to surrender once heard.
A Level Three system with J M Reynaud speakers and Blue Circle electronics will
give you a more robust and immediate but less refined presentation. You want the
FtTH integrated hybrid amp with Offrandes Supremes. You could also consider the
Blue Circle BC501 dac in place of an Audio Note dac in this system.
Upgrade the phono stage to a Blue Circle 703 in a Blue Circle/JMR system; go with
an M3 phono in the all Audio Note rig.
Level Four Systems
These are the best systems I know how to assemble without shooting the moon. I live
on Level Four! A Level Four system can cost as little as $55,000 or over $100,000
without turntable and phono stage. At the head of the chain is the new Audio Note
CDT 3 and eloquent Dac 4.1 Balanced or authoritative BC 501ob. In an all Audio Note
System, I recommend the superb M6 or M6 phono preamp and the marvelously clear 2A3
Neiros (the equally fine 300B based Shinri’s are $4500 more) or new P4 Balanced,
and E/SPe SE or SPx SE speakers with external crossovers, among other technical
refinements. In a Blue Circle/Reynaud based Level Four system keep the CDT 3 transport
but consider a Blue Circle BC501ob dac. Electronics: the BC3000 II preamplifier
(maybe with the GZpz power supply), one of Gilbert Yeung’s new hybrid stereo
amps like the 150 watt BC 204, and Jean Marie Reynaud’s Orfeos or top-of-the-line
Concorde Signatures, depending on the size of your room. Level Four systems
should include Pallas digital cable and Sogon or Sootto interconnects, along with
SPx speaker cable.
For analogue, the new Audio Note TT3 .5 Reference with an Arm 1s/Vx or Sogon, a
IO Gold moving coil cartridge, and a S5L step-up transformer.
Level Five - Shooting the Moon
Shooting the moon is not shooting
Mars or Venus, but it’s as close to a cost no object approach to the reproduction
of music as I care to imagine. For the morbidly curious, this system would cost
in excess of $300,000 with all Audio Note components or around $200,000 with a mixture
of Audio Note, Blue Circle, and Reynaud components. Since I have not heard such
systems, my recommendations here are based on educated speculation!
CDT 4 or forthcoming CDT 5 transport,
Dac 5 Signature, TT3 Reference , Arm 1s/Sogon, IOGold cartridge, AN S8 step-up transformer.
Audio Note M8 Line preamplifier or M8 Phono, Kageki (2A3) monoblock amplifiers.
Or BC 3000 GZpz preamplifier, BC208 monoblock amplifier. AN-E SEC Signature or JMR
Concorde Signature speakers. Digital interconnects: Pallas. Interconnects Sootto.
Speaker cable either SPx or Sogon. The possbilities for excess and indulgence at
this level defy the imagination.
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REVIEWS
Equipment Reviews
As many of you know, the journey to Audio Note, Blue Circle, and Reynaud is
chronicled in reviews on Enjoy the Music and Positive-Feedback, among
others. I have attached links to the relevant reviews below.
Blue Circle AG3000 and AG8000: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/
Blue Circle Music Rings: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/
Blue Circle CS: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue10/system.htm
Reynaud Offrandes, 1st Review: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/
Reynaud Offrandes, 2nd Review: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue6/offrandes.htm
Reynaud Twins: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue4/reynaudtwin.htm
Reynaud Trentes: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue5/trente.htm
Reynaud Concordes: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue7/concordes.htm
Reynaud Arpeggiones: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue10/system.htm
Audio Note CDT TWO and DAC 4.1 balanced: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue8/audionote.htm
Audio Note CDT ONE and DAC 1.1x Signature: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue10/system.htm
Elrod Power Systems Signature power cord: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue5/elrodeps.htm
Elrod Power Systems Statement power cord: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue9/elrod.htm
Audience Au 24 speaker cable:
http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue3/audienceau24.htm
Audience modified Sony NV999 CD/SACD player: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue6/audiencecd.htm
TG Labs HSR speaker cable: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue4/hsr.htm
TG Lab 688 power cord: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue10/system.htm
TG Lab SLVR power cord: http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/archives/
Audience modified Sony NV999 CD/SACD player, upgraded model: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue12/sacd.htm
Audio Note CDT TWO transport with DAC One.1x Signature: http://www.positive-feedback.com/Issue12/sacd.htm
Music Reviews
Over the past few years, I have of necessity given up equipment reviewing (confluence
of interest!) and taken up music reviewing instead. I bring to this writing more
enthusiasm than musical knowledge and so offer it up mainly as news about current
offerings in the mainly classical music recording world.
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SPECIALS
I generally have some used and demo equipment available at deeper discounts.
Current stock:
Audio Note P4 Balanced monoblocks. Silver faceplates. Fewer than
100 hours on them. 2 meter pair of Sootto XLR available. As some readers here know,
I brought this pair of amps in to explore the AN interstage amplifier technology
at first-hand and that I was well pleased with them. I am satisfied that I know
their strengths well enough to inform customers and friends, but wish now to track
down some used Kageki’s to see in what ways they exceed my former Neiros. It is
possible I may bring P4B’s back permanently when I retire from Amherst Audio, but
for now there are other things I want to do. Retail price for the amps is $28,500;
for the Sootto IC’s, $13,875. I am entertaining offers and not feeling greedy.
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Sales Policy
Most items sold by Amherst Audio are made to order. This
means that orders once made cannot be cancelled after 48 hours; and that goods are
not returnable unless defective. Defective items can be returned at the expense
of Amherst Audio and payment will be refunded in full. Items damaged in shipping
will be dealt with on a case by case basis in whatever way seems most sensible to
both buyer and Amherst Audio. All equipment is shipped by Amherst Audio insured.
Visa and Mastercard accepted.
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Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006. All rights reserved.
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Photo credits: Yeung, Soundstage. Qvortrup,
British Airways. Stephæn Harrell and Audio Asylum.
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